IBM’s Watson is learning its way to saving lives. 
[culture / technology / innovation / creativity]

IBM’s Watson is one of the best pieces of advertising I’ve seen in my lifetime. IBM wanted to show people just how good their technology was, so they made a super smart computer. That consistently won Jeopardy. (Yes, really.) Now they’re sending Watson to hospitals, creating fake problems and seeing if Watson comes up with the same solution as real doctors. After Doctors input certain information, the computer filters the information through algorithms and then suggests solutions with varying levels of confidence. Oh, and it keeps learning. So in a few months, or even a few years it will be even smarter. It can learn and share knowledge from across the world! This is the part of the future I’m excited about. 

Repeat after me: Your company needs a mantra.  [Communications / Work Life] It’s true. Your company needs a mantra. Not just goals, but something people can latch onto. 72 & Sunny (a west coast advertising agency) has a mantra: “Be brave and generous.” It’s something that employees can rally around. It’s not a mission statement but instead, “short, sweet and swallowable.” High-res

Repeat after me: Your company needs a mantra.  
[Communications / Work Life]

It’s true. Your company needs a mantra. Not just goals, but something people can latch onto. 72 & Sunny (a west coast advertising agency) has a mantra: “Be brave and generous.” It’s something that employees can rally around. It’s not a mission statement but instead, “short, sweet and swallowable.”

Kickstarter: Crowdfunding platform or reality show? I’m addicted to funding projects on Kickstarter. Whew. Feels good to get it off my chest. My boyfriend is fascinated by my obsession and frequently points out that half the time the funding products never arrive or they arrive incredibly behind schedule. To be honest, it doesn’t bother me at all. I share a similar sentiment to the author, who writes, “We don’t really want the stuff. We’re paying for the sensation of a hypothetical idea, not the experience of a realized product. For the pleasure of desiring it. For the experience of watching it succeed beyond expectations or to fail dramatically. Kickstarter is just another form of entertainment.” High-res

Kickstarter: Crowdfunding platform or reality show?

I’m addicted to funding projects on Kickstarter. Whew. Feels good to get it off my chest. My boyfriend is fascinated by my obsession and frequently points out that half the time the funding products never arrive or they arrive incredibly behind schedule. To be honest, it doesn’t bother me at all. I share a similar sentiment to the author, who writes, “We don’t really want the stuff. We’re paying for the sensation of a hypothetical idea, not the experience of a realized product. For the pleasure of desiring it. For the experience of watching it succeed beyond expectations or to fail dramatically. Kickstarter is just another form of entertainment.”

America’s most innovative neighborhood: 15 square miles in New Mexico, Population: 0.  The Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation will be a city modeled on a mid-sized AMerican “town” of about 35,000 people. It’s been built in New Mexico to be an R&D testing ground for everything from wireless networks to self-driving cars. Sounds pretty exciting. High-res

America’s most innovative neighborhood: 15 square miles in New Mexico, Population: 0. 

The Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation will be a city modeled on a mid-sized AMerican “town” of about 35,000 people. It’s been built in New Mexico to be an R&D testing ground for everything from wireless networks to self-driving cars. Sounds pretty exciting.

Source Fast Company

MIT’s freaky non-stick coating keeps ketchup flowing.  

The future of condiments is now! MIT students have developed a non-stick (& non-toxic) coating that keeps things like ketchup and mayo from sticking to the side of the bottle. It doesn’t sound as cool as it actually is, so be sure to watch the embedded videos within the Fast Company article.

Source fastcoexist.com

Lessons in winning fans from the world’s most elite niche sport.


Yes, there are in fact lessons on how to get more fans in this article. But that’s not why I loved it. I had never heard of the Volvo Ocean Race and am now completely fascinated by it. Who knew there were 11-person sailing crews traveling 39,000 nautical miles while documenting the whole thing?!

Source Fast Company

Why storytelling is the ultimate weapon. 


In this article, Jonathan Gottschall (author of The Storytelling animal) gives an example of how Peter Guber likens stories to the trojan horses: “The audience accepts the story because, for a human, a good story always seems like a gift. But the story is actually just a delivery system for the teller’s agenda. A story is a trick for sneaking a message into the fortified citadel of the human mind.”

Source fastcocreate.com

Introducing Pinterest designer Sahil Lavingia and his e-commerce startup, Gumroad.

After helping to design Pinterest as we know it, Lavingia left to start Gumroad, “a new service which he says will revolutionize social shopping.” No matter what you make or how much you think it’s worth, Gumroad gives you a way to “sell anything you can share,” taking only 5% of the selling price. Sounds rad.

Source Fast Company

The TSA has an insane budget and woeful track record.  A great infographic from Fast Company on the ridiculous budget and disappointing track record belonging to the TSA. As the editors point out, we do know that infographics can be misleading when interpreting data in… interesting ways, but still, to see that 7 out of every 10 weapons get past security isn’t OK! High-res

The TSA has an insane budget and woeful track record. 

A great infographic from Fast Company on the ridiculous budget and disappointing track record belonging to the TSA. As the editors point out, we do know that infographics can be misleading when interpreting data in… interesting ways, but still, to see that 7 out of every 10 weapons get past security isn’t OK!

Source fastcodesign.com

“B. Bingham found the Child’s White Zebra Pimp Suit Costume a great value. “We bought this outfit for little Johnny, as he wanted something sharp to wear to Spring Fling carnival. His little friend Amber wore the ‘Child’s Red Happy Hooker Costume (Size XS)’ and together they just looked cute as a button!! At the end of the day he came home so excited, and he loved the costume so much he started wearing it regularly! I had no idea he would get so much use out of it. He’s even added accessories, like gold chains and bling rings (though I really don’t understand where he got the money… oh well, probably just cheap things from the dollar store).” (via Still More Of The 10 Best Amazon Reviews. Ever. | Fast Company) High-res

“B. Bingham found the Child’s White Zebra Pimp Suit Costume a great value. “We bought this outfit for little Johnny, as he wanted something sharp to wear to Spring Fling carnival. His little friend Amber wore the ‘Child’s Red Happy Hooker Costume (Size XS)’ and together they just looked cute as a button!! At the end of the day he came home so excited, and he loved the costume so much he started wearing it regularly! I had no idea he would get so much use out of it. He’s even added accessories, like gold chains and bling rings (though I really don’t understand where he got the money… oh well, probably just cheap things from the dollar store).”

(via Still More Of The 10 Best Amazon Reviews. Ever. | Fast Company)

Source Fast Company