Mental Moss

Netflix Scraps Qwikster

2011-10-10T17:05:00.002-04:00

Feeling the need to further highlight its management blunders, Netflix has decided to keep DVDs within Netflix.com instead of moving them to a separate division they wanted to call Qwikster (I think the person who named this thought it was still 2002). They sent out an email explaining it:

I'm curious what the first draft of this was before the Corporate Communications people 'massaged' it. It probably went something like this:

"It is clear from the more than 50% drop in our share price since the announcement in July, that nobody likes what we're doing. Since we can't fix the pricing issue, we'll at least try to appease our customers by scrapping the idiotic idea of creating a separate site called Qwikster."

In July 2011, the stock price was at its peak close to $300 per share. Today, it's at $111. If that's not a case study in poor management and loss of shareholder value, I don't know what is.

Netflix Blunders

2011-09-19T02:16:00.000-04:00

Netflix has somehow become a terribly managed company. I didn't pay much attention to it before, but now that it's been in the news so much because of its rate increase, it's apparent that the management don't really know how to handle things.

After adjusted subscriber forecasts that resulted in a double-digit percent tanking of its stock, Netflix's CEO, Reed Hastings, finally decided to write a blog post to address the shitstorm that was created.

The blog post, which starts "I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation", proceeds to detail yet another blunder: the formal split of Netflix's business into Netflix (streaming video) and Qwikster (DVD mail service). This is completely idiotic. In addition to Qwikster just being a terrible name, what is the point in splitting the company into two different brands? Won't that just increase costs, the very thing the company is trying to avoid by this ridiculous rate increase?

It's pretty clear that Reed Hastings isn't going to win any PR awards. He should have at least had a PR person draft his blog post. The gist of the post is essentially, "I messed up. I'm not going to fix the screw up, but I'll explain why I thought it was a good mistake to make. We're going to split the company, too. Hopefully this will make sense to you now that I've explained it. Despite having not addressed the core problem and basically creating a new one, please come back, customers! Our stock price needs you!"

I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually writes another blog post titled "Why Qwikster was a Dumb Idea".

Follow Me on Twitter

2011-06-07T10:12:00.000-04:00

Based on the formula below, I've decided on a new blogging strategy:

(Minimal Original Thoughts x Too Busy to Write + Not Trying to be Famous) / No Monetization = Follow Me on Twitter

It was difficult to come to this decision, but I decided to follow my heart -- Hard Equations And Rational Thinking -- and have concluded that it's easier to just tweet and re-tweet stuff out rather than blurbs on here.

If I have time, I'll update this blog. Until then, follow me on "The Twitter" @TweetsR4Twits where I tweet about digital marketing, social media, new technologies, innovation, and random oddities I see at the gym.

Top 5 Foursquare Mistakes Committed by Small Businesses

2011-05-31T13:49:00.000-04:00

Informative article on Mashable about the Top 5 Foursquare Mistakes Committed by Small Businesses.

The top 5 are:

Creating a Complicated Special
Not Training Staff
Not Using Foursquare's Dashboard
Giving Away Too Much Via Product Specials
Not Advertising That You're a Foursquare Merchant

Another important one would be giving benefits only to the Mayor. Starbucks is (was?) a perfect example of this, giving 10% off for the Mayor, but nothing for anyone else. With all the foot traffic, it's impossible to become the mayor of a Starbucks, so there's minimal incentive to try.

What Makes a Startup Successful

2011-05-30T22:51:00.000-04:00

Came across a great post on GigaOM on what makes a startup successful: New Startup? Dude, There's a (Genome) Map for That

The post talks about the Startup Genome Report, which lists out four "personality" types:

The Automizer
The Social Transformer
The Integrator
The Challenger

Learn more about them in the blog post and also check out this presentation:

Startup Genome Project: The Pivot on Prezi

iPad vs. Kindle vs. Nook

2011-04-01T23:03:00.000-04:00

I feel like I need a new toy. What should it be?

Google Launches +1

2011-03-30T16:33:00.000-04:00

Google launched their "social" product that everyone was calling Circle, and is apparently called +1.

I was actually really excited when I heard the name because I thought of all the possibilities a social network called "Plus One" could be. Then I read more about what it actually is. It's not what I think of when I think of a "Plus One".

It's basically Facebook's "Like" button. Works the same way, starting primarily with search results and then will move to content.

I'm already over it. This seems like it will actually add to the clutter rather than streamline it. Maybe they'll eventually figure out how to only show me the opinions of people I 1) know have good taste and 2) know have terrible taste so I can use those ends of the spectrum to inform my decisions. People with average opinions are uninteresting to me since they won't push me in one direction vs. the other.

But in case you're interested in learning more about it, here's a video:

Location-Based Crowdsourced Advice

2011-03-16T12:20:00.000-04:00

What happens when two trends (Location-Based Services + Crowdsourcing) combine? Well, in this instance you get Crowdbeacon, a new location-based recommendation website and app that leverages instant crowdsourcing to serve up recommendations on things like restaurants, shopping, nightlife, arts & entertainment, and beauty.

Follow this link and watch the video to learn more about how it works or read the summary write up on Springwise.

Movie Rentals Come to Facebook

2011-03-08T13:08:00.000-05:00

Warner Bros. announced that it will make its movies available for sale or rent on Facebook. Everyone is hopping on this "streaming video / movie rental" bandwagon!

It would seem to make sense to use Facebook as a distribution network since it reaches so many people and people spend copious time on there (time writing this blog post is time spent away from Facebook!). However, I'm curious to see how this actually plays out. Personally, I wouldn't want to use Facebook to rent movies. There's too much popping up and happening all the time for me to concentrate on the movie. I also don't like the concept of paying to rent digital content. Either you buy and own or it's free.

What I haven't seen yet, and could be a larger opportunity for Facebook, is the social integration of a movie-viewing experience. In other parts of the interwebs, people are trying to integrate live-blogging and twitter feeds with a viewing experience. This is the perfect opportunity to do that. You could have a chat room with your friends, on Facebook, while you're all watching the same movie. That would be something more interesting than a "me too" roll out of movies onto a platform that's not meant for large screen video consumption.

Another interesting aspect of this is that you have to pay using Facebook Credits. It seems like more a play to further integrate this concept into consumer behavior. But I still think that if you create an offering that adds unique value (why would I use FB instead of Netflix, Hulu or now Amazon?), then it will do more to influence consumer behavior than just a copy of someone else's business model.

Instant Videos with Amazon Prime

2011-02-22T15:41:00.000-05:00

I mentioned it my earlier post, but I guess it's official now. Amazon Prime will include "unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows"!

I did a quick skim of the movies and it's a pretty decent selection, similar to Netflix. I'm not sure how this will affect Netflix, or at least my decision to keep or ditch Netflix. But for now at least people have more options.

Now someone tell me how I can hook this up to my Apple TV to watch on a proper screen instead of on my computer.

Facial Recognition: The Future -- Today!

2011-02-17T13:20:00.000-05:00

I was in a meeting yesterday with people I've seen at least three times before, but still can't remember their names. I said to a colleague, "Wouldn't it be great if there were an app that recognized peoples' faces and told me who they were so I could pretend that I actually remembered their names?" Well, we're almost there!

Once upon a time (circa 2005) there used to be a facial recognition site called Riya, which is now defunct, that would let you tag peoples' faces and would then identify them in other pictures in the database. It was similar to iPhoto's Faces functionality but done through a website vs. pictures on your computer. So we're almost there, but facial recognition needs some training (a few pictures to learn from) and is still inaccurate (I guess computers also think all Asians look alike, too!).

Cut to Viewdle, a facial recognition company that's moving its software functionality to mobile. So now we're one step closer to the app that will let me not look like a fool during meetings (or when the UN runs out of name tents)! Here's a glimpse at what it hopes to accomplish by linking mobile pictures and video to social network data:

Viewdle - Photo and Video Face Tagging from Viewdle on Vimeo.

Not too bad. I can see this being really useful the older I get. Now I won't have to remember a single thing about people and can save that brain space for other things like curing the eventual cancer that will erode my memory cells and require me to use such an app to begin with!

Groupon - An Infographic

2011-01-11T11:14:00.000-05:00

Everyone's yapping about Groupon, what with Google's $6 billion bid to buy the company and their recent round of VC funding. Mashable found an infographic about the numbers behind groupon. Have a look:

[Source: OnlineMBA.com]

Verizon iPhone?

2011-01-11T10:34:00.000-05:00

This morning, everyone's expecting Verizon to announce that they'll be carrying the iPhone. If they do, I hope someone publishes stats showing how many people leave AT&T and go to Verizon. If they were smart, Verizon would offer incentives for current AT&T / iPhone users to easily and seamlessly convert over to Verizon.

Whilst I hate AT&T's service and network, I'm deluding myself into believing (as AT&T would like us to believe) that the poor service is a result of an overwhelmed network of heavy iPhone data users. So my plan is to stick it out with AT&T after the exodus to see if anything changes. If the service is still terrible -- fraught with dropped calls and dead zones -- then I'll switch back to Verizon.

List of Predictions for 2011

2011-01-10T14:49:00.007-05:00

Everyone's making their predictions for 2011, so I figured I would collect some of them in one place.

Advertising Age: 2011 Predictions for Marketers
"It Gets Better". Predictions for the following categories: Personal Care, Packaged Food, Beverages, Beer, Fast Food, and Retail.

Advertising Age: 2011 Predictions for Media
Free content, and the expectation of "free", is going to continue to get in the way of publishers' ability to make money.

Advertising Age: 2011 Predictions for Agencies
"Cautiously optimistic" is the theme for 2011.

Advertising Age: 2011 Predictions for Digital Marketing
Social Platforms, Gaming, and Mobile will continue to be top trends for 2011.

eConsultancy: 17 Digital Marketing Trends for 2011
Content is king, privacy matters, user data matters, too. Throw in similar predictions for social media and gaming.

eConsultancy: 10 Digital Predictions for 2011
Group shopping therapy, mobile, location-based services and more.

Daily Beast: 21 Tech Innovation Predictions for 2011
Videophones, mobile wallets, music in the cloud, streaming video games, and holographic displays are just a few of the tech innovations expected to hit in 2011.

Mac App Store Launches

2011-01-06T11:24:00.000-05:00

The Mac App Store launched this morning with over 1,000 free apps and a slew of paid ones. So now in addition to apps for your iPhone and iPad, you can easily download and update apps for your mac.

Meme Alert: "Chloe Sevigny"

2011-01-05T16:15:00.000-05:00

It's recently come to my attention that I'm obsessed with the "Chloe Sevigny" videos.

If you haven't seen this series of videos by comedian Drew Droege playing Chloe Sevigny, then you need to take a few minutes to watch. They're hilarious and brilliant. The videos have been making their way around teh interwebs for a while. I posted one below, so have a look:

Amazon Entering the Video Streaming Market?

2010-12-06T13:33:00.000-05:00

According to ReadWriteWeb, it seems that Amazon is looking to compete with Netflix to offer video streaming services. It will apparently be bundled with the $79 per year Amazon Prime service, which doesn't really make that much sense to me, but I'm completely fine with it since I'm already an Amazon Prime member (customer?). I guess it's more of a play to get people to visit Amazon more often and make it that much easier to shop. It could also be a way for Amazon to have even more robust consumer data to drive more targeted recommendations.

Amazon surely already has the inventory and the recommendation technology, so they're already halfway there. By bundling the service with Amazon Prime and making the annual cost about 20% lower than Netflix, it seems like Amazon has taken care of the other half of the equation, assuming that there's an easy way for the content to be streamed to multiple devices -- mobile, TV, tablet, etc. Redbox might still be a viable competitor because apparently some consumers are still happy to rent and return physical products, but the cost of the inventory and kiosks might not be as scalable as being a pure digital provider. I haven't kept up with Blockbuster, but I just assume they won't be that viable either.

Hopefully Amazon will roll this out soon. At this price point, I'll be happy to switch over.

Expanding the Holiday Shopping Season

2010-11-22T09:47:00.020-05:00

American Express is trying to brand the Saturday after Thanksgiving as Small Business Saturday, encouraging shoppers to make purchases at small businesses as an integral way of fueling the economy. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any discount or deals attached to this effort, so we'll see if "supporting your local businesses" is enough of a draw to change consumer behavior. To that effect, the Small Business Saturday website has a list of local businesses so people can tell what's a "small business" vs. a large conglomerate masquerading as a mom 'n pop shop.

Alternatively, Amazon.com is trying to dominate the holiday shopping season by launching Black Friday deals early on November 22nd, in an attempt to stretch out the mad holiday shopping rush. They are also doing a deals for Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Google Voice App for iPhone is Here!

2010-11-17T13:42:00.000-05:00

The Google Voice app finally launched on the iPhone platform today! Now iPhone (and Google Voice) users can make calls and text messages from their phone using their Google Voice account and displaying their Google Voice number. This makes the transition from a standard phone number to a Google Voice number much easier. Now I really only have to give out my Google Voice number to people and they won't know that it's not my direct mobile phone number.

I believe that calls are made through VOIP, reducing one's dependence on airtime minutes, and long distance calls are cheaper as well.

Download the app here.

Facebook Non-Email Email

2010-11-16T09:40:00.002-05:00

Facebook is rolling out a new form of messaging that will essentially capture all your conversations with people across multiple platforms, media and devices and place them into one "conversation". This seems like it will simultaneously be a benefit and a plague. The benefits that are highlighted in the video below also lead me to think of all the negative flip sides.

In one example, the guy is logged into Facebook chat and his friend sends him an email, which pops up in his chat. That's pretty interesting if that was an important message, but if it's just crap then I don't want crap interrupting what I'm focusing on at the moment.

Layer these interruptions on top of privacy concerns and this whole thing creeps me out.

Apple TV vs. a Cord

2010-11-15T17:21:00.000-05:00

I recently bought the new Apple TV but I don't know that I'm in love with it. I wish it could store data (movies, TV shows, etc.) on it so it could be portable. I wish it streamed whatever's on my desktop to my TV, but it doesn't. It doesn't stream Hulu, either. I think it's absurd to pay to "rent" TV shows and movies through Apple TV, too. So basically all I'm using it for at the moment is to stream Netflix and the handful of movies and TV shows I've purchased through iTunes on my computer. I don't know that that's really worth $100. The adapter cord I bought for $7 does everything I want it to. It's just a pain to set up and toggle between.

So I've got a bit (ok, a lot) of buyer's remorse. Maybe I'm missing some uses and features that I'm unaware of, but as of now it's not looking so good. I'd rather have a $7 cord and $93 worth of iTunes movies.

Top 5 Worst Companies

2010-11-15T13:04:00.002-05:00

I just read an article WIRED posted about how Everyone Hates Ticketmaster and it made me think of some other companies I really just hate, yet am somehow enslaved to doing business with because they're essentially monopolies. The basis for my hate stems mostly from the poor service each of these companies provide combined with a lack of focus on customers' needs and a seemingly cavalier desire to remain sub-par. For instance, everyone hates Ticketmaster because of the exorbitant fees they charge that don't add any value to the customer yet obviously add a lot to Ticketmaster's bottom line. Ticketmaster obviously doesn't care that customers hate it because we have no other option.

So here's my Top 5 list, which I'm sure could be expanded to a Top 20 list, but I wanted to keep it short and focused.

AT&T Wireless. A daily disappointment in cell phone connectivity. Between dropped calls, no service, and the illusion of services (eg, full bars but no network connection), AT&T Wireless is just the worst, primarily because you have to deal with it on a daily basis. As further evidence of customer dissatisfaction, look no further than the myriad of hateful posts on AT&T's Facebook page.
The MTA. New York City's subway system is in desperate need of help. Fares are increasing yet service (both reliability and frequency) is decreasing exponentially. Commiserate with fellow victims at F the MTA.
Ticketmaster. A virtual monopoly on concerts and unjustifiable services fees. I don't go to concerts enough to care that much, but when I do, I'm reminded of why their term "Convenience Fee" just pisses me off in all the right ways.
Time Warner Cable. Expensive services, poor customer service, and 4-hour service windows. If my cable blips out one more time, I'm going to scream. A google search of the phrase "I hate Time Warner Cable" generated over 1 million results. Nuff said.
All Airlines. High airline prices, fees for everything, and overbooked flights make flying more of a hassle than an enjoyable experience. Every minute sitting on the tarmac should result in a dollar-per-minute refund on passengers' ticket price. And this is without taking into consideration the things that airlines have little control over that also result in poor customer experiences like the weather and the TSA. Having said all that, the airline industry is a tough industry that I don't think anyone really wants to work in, but everyone should at least TRY to make the experience less torturous.

There was a list of the 18 Worst Companies posted on Business Insider that listed the same companies on my list, but broke out the airlines separately. I'm probably missing some healthcare companies and obviously the Government, but those aren't in my Top 5 for today.

Mobile Squared Roadshow Presentations

2010-11-14T11:58:00.000-05:00

Presentation's from this month's Mobile Squared Roadshow conference are available for download. Speakers from Google, AT&T, InMobi, AKQA, and NBC Universal, among others, presented on mobile trends and demographics. It was an informative conference. The presentations by AT&T, Lightspeed Research, and Google were particularly relevant to the mobile work that I'm currently doing.

Behavioral Advertising Opt-Out

2010-10-05T10:20:00.000-04:00

Online behavioral advertising is creeping some people out since it allows advertisers to track consumers' web behavior to serve up relevant ads to them. As a marketer, this functionality is really interesting since ideally I would be able to display targeted ads to receptive consumers. But as a consumer, I don't need people tracking what I'm doing on the internet and then determining my interests based on that slice of behavior.

In an effort to creep people out less,a handful of major advertising associations has created an opt-out option in the form of an icon that will sit next to, or near, the ad. It's a step to preempt regulation, but at least it's a way for consumers to opt out and not be tracked, at least in this instance.

Chrome Experiments: Arcade Fire

2010-08-30T14:33:00.002-04:00

Today, Chrome Experiments just launched an amazing 'interactive film,' featuring music by Arcade Fire, to showcase the amazingness of the Chrome browser and HTML5. The interactive film, The Wilderness Downtown, plays to the Arcade Fire song "We Used to Wait" and is personalized to each viewer -- the site asks you to enter the address of the home where you grew up -- by integrating the Google Maps API into the film. If you really want to geek out, here's the description from the Chrome Experiments site:

"Choreographed windows, interactive flocking, custom rendered maps, real-time compositing, procedural drawing, 3D canvas rendering... this Chrome Experiment has them all. "The Wilderness Downtown" is an interactive interpretation of Arcade Fire's song "We Used To Wait" and was built entirely with the latest open web technologies, including HTML5 video, audio, and canvas."

This whole collaboration was an effort to promote Google's Chrome web browser. The interactive film only works when viewed through Chrome, showcasing the capabilities of the browser and the power of HTML. Check out the Chrome Experiments page to learn more about it.

But more importantly, check out the Wilderness Downtown site and watch the interactive film. It's kind of amazing.

Location Based Apps to the Rescue!

2010-08-25T14:19:00.000-04:00

Whenever I'm in a huge suburban supermarket, it's always so difficult to find what I'm looking for. I've always wished that I could just turn on Google Maps and look up which aisle the Almond Joys are in! Now "there's an app for that!"

The Meijer Find-It app let's you do just that (but only in Meijer stores, obviously). It's pretty amazing. The app leverages Point Inside's technology to map out where the product in question is housed in the supermarket. Point Inside also has its own app that maps out stores in malls and airports, helping you find where to buy items you're looking for. Pretty efficient!

Must-Have Apps - Part II

2010-08-19T16:49:00.000-04:00

I wrote a post a while back suggesting some iPhone apps worth downloading. I thought I'd now expand on that list since some time has lapsed and new and interesting things have been developed. So here goes (in no particular order):

Twitter - They finally created their own app, so now you should probably use that one instead of Twitterific.
Foursquare - Although now that Facebook has location-based status check-ins, this might become irrelevant.
Kayak - Helpful for checking out flight costs or actually booking flights, your choice.
Amazon - The best part about this app is Amazon Remembers, where you can take a picture of almost any object and Amazon will search through it's database and tell you what it is and if you can buy it from them. Visual search -- get into it!
Google Goggles - Sadly this isn't available for the iPhone yet, but it's also an amazing visual search app, available on Android.
NeoReader - a free QR code reader so you can get info from those crazy QR codes they keep putting in magazine ads and whatnot.
Pandora - If you're into streaming internet music, then this would be good to have. If you're into preserving your phone's battery life, then it's probably not.
American Express / Citibank / Chase - If you have accounts here, you can pay your cards, check balances, and (with Chase) deposit checks into your account simply by taking a picture of them.
Yowza!! - If you live in suburbia and/or shop at chain stores, this app will let you know if there are any discounts or sales happening at retailers around you.
Gilt Groupe - If you don't know, then don't bother.
Mark the Spot - For when your AT&T Wireless call drops (and it will... over and over), you can let them know exactly when and where the call dropped so they can do absolutely nothing about it. But at least you can feel like you contributed to the "solution" instead of just bitching about the problem.
What the Font - Great for graphic designers and the like. Take a picture of some text and the app will identify the font for you.
Layar - A nifty augmented reality app that layers information on various topics over your screen. Similar to the Yelp monocle, but with more information.

Did I miss any other neat apps that you're using and I'm not? Let me know!

Target's Bullsye is Widening

2010-08-18T15:21:00.000-04:00

Target's tarnished image with the LGBT community, the result of the CEO Gregg Steinhafel donating $150,000 to anti-gay politician Tom Emmer, has become such a huge controversy that it's prompting its partners to publish caveats and clarifications regarding their relationship with the retailer. Today's example is from Gilt Groupe, who posted a disclaimer on their Facebook page about an upcoming sale with Target. I think it's a smart move, but people who commented on the post were not happy with the collaboration. Some comments included:

"Their support of bigots is ALSO unwavering. NO TO TARGET!!! NO TO GILT FOR TEAMING UP WITH TARGET... BOOOOOOO. NOT GOOD ENOUGH GREGG!! Blah"
"Yeah, not cool, Gilt Groupe. My love affair with you is definitely dampened."
"Dump target now!"
"Actions speak louder than printed words..."
"Kinda surprised Gilt - won't be shopping ur site that day"

I'm surprised at how vehemently people have reacted to the Target sale on Gilt. I think Gilt was smart to post something about it. I don't necessarily have an opinion on whether they should yank the sale from the site, though. It's more of a moral call and I'm pretty low on morals, so I typically just default to "business is business". But clearly other people don't like Target's involvement.

I'm glad people care so much. I love Gilt Groupe and I'm not going to stop shopping there (I'm too addicted!), but I'll probably not shop at Target until this situation works itself out. It's also easier for me to not shop at Target, since it's all the way in Brooklyn. But other companies and brands should be mindful of the potential backlash this might have for them if they work with Target and should really encourage the company, and theirs, to do more to address the issue.

Andrew likes Piperlime (Fashion)

2010-08-17T15:15:00.000-04:00

Why do I like a brand that only sells women's clothes? Because I love its personality.

Piperlime is an online store, owned by the GAP, that sells predominantly women's clothing (they sell men's shoes, but that's it). The brand is striving to be a fashion portal (albeit a middle-America fashion portal), elevating the fashion, shopping and dressing experience. The brand's Facebook page, however, seems to be irksome to some women who don't care for some of the statuses the page has been posting. They perceive the brand as being something of a Mean Girl because of the tone of the status updates. I think they're hilarious:

"Yoga pants aren't pants"
"If the frenemy sees you out in public in your TV-watching clothes, the frenemy wins."
"No more pajamas in public."
"Every day is “wear an outfit that will make your ex eat his heart out” day."
"Let's put Saturday-night effort into Sunday afternoon."

And my favorite:

"Every time you wear sweatpants in public, a single guy leaves New York."

It seems that some women take offense to these remarks, calling them "bitchy" and "junior high schoolish". I think they're great! Nobody wants to see anyone walking around in sweatpants or wearing pajamas in public. I'm all for dressing comfortably, but there's a line where comfort crosses into unsightly. I'm almost scared to see how these women dress.

Regardless of this cohort's impression, the Facebook page is apparently doing well. If anything, it's creating a buzz around the brand that wouldn't have existed without their protests. Although there is the danger that, for a brand presumably targeting Middle America, these posts could alienate their core consumer. Hopefully instead of alienating them, it will train them to step it up and throw on something nice before they walk out the door!

"Best" Email Marketing Platforms

2010-08-16T17:23:00.000-04:00

A friend was asking me the other day which email marketing platform I use and if I could recommend one for him. I've only had use for a platform for work, not personal, purposes and in the past have used iContact and possibly Constant Contact. I think both work fine, but the analytics leave much to be desired.

So today I came across a post from ReadWriteWeb outlining the 3 Best Email Marketing Platforms to help people determine which one is right for them. The three best ones they mentioned were:

Others that were mentioned in the comments section of the post were:

Are you using any other ones that are better?

JobPrize: The Job Referral Network

2010-08-12T14:58:00.000-04:00

With the effects of the recession still in full swing and an unemployment of around 9.5%, there are still a lot of people out there looking for jobs. One interesting way to find one, or to help someone else find one, is through a site called JobPrize. The employment referral site allows job seekers to post a description of their experience and the type of job(s) they're looking for, along with the "prize" they will give to whomever is able to refer them to a job that they successfully land. "Prizes" are typically cash amounts -- either flat fees or increasing fees based on the starting salary of the position the person lands.

Prize Hunters, conversely, are people who have connections and can refer the job seeker to someone (I assume most typically a recruiter) who will get them an interview at a target company. If the Job Seeker gets the job, then the Prize Hunter wins the prize. It's all explained in the FAQ section of the site.

Obviously there are some potential challenges with this. However, since I don't necessarily have any morals, if I were a Job Seeker I wouldn't have a problem incentivizing someone to get me an interview for a position that I want. I assume that if I were to get the interview, that it would be based on my skills and background. Alternatively, if i were a Prize Hunter, I wouldn't have a problem referring someone to be interviewed because I would have looked at their resume and would leave it up to the recruiter to screen and determine whether the person is a strong candidate. In both instances, the recruiter (as always) is the gatekeeper.

Given the economy, it's a pretty interesting business model -- a way for both sides to win. So consider signing up!

Facebook Places is Coming!

2010-08-12T14:35:00.001-04:00

Facebook's location-based check-in service is apparently hitting the market soon. It's apparently supposed to be more than just a location check-in, but who knows what that will entail.

I hope they launch it soon so I can ditch Foursquare, since it never seems to know where I am at all -- it tells me everything else around me except for the name of the place where I'm standing. But I'll also be curious to see how Foursquare tries to step it up to compete with Facebook once the service launches. Maybe there will actually be a tangible reason to check in to places other than just a badge or extra scoop of ice cream.

Why care about any of this? ReadWriteWeb has a post on why people check in to places. That should help explain it.

An Online Influence Stock Exchange

2010-08-08T02:39:00.000-04:00

Lately it seems like everyone has an "online influence" site in the works. Fast Company launched their Influencer Project and now Empire Avenue has emerged as a site that's essentially a stock exchange for peoples' online profiles.

Honestly, it's a little confusing how the stock exchange works. How can you value something when you don't know have any information about it? So to that effect, it's very unsimilar to a standard stock exchanged, but similar in the sense that it's a market that fluctuates based on supply and demand.

The claim is that individuals and organizations can convert their online influence into actual revenue. While this sounds great from the start, particularly since you're operating in a stock exchange environment, I think ultimately the revenue generation model is going more similar to YouTube's model where you're paid based on the number of eyeballs or clicks you receive. A little less thrilling.

However, I've really only skimmed through the site and I'm still poking around to try to get a better understanding of it. I know that one of the ways you can early more credits (currency with which shares are purchased) is through linking your profile to the content that you generate. Hence, I've linked mine to this blog and have to include this silly verification code in order for it to be completely linked: EAVB_LXRVKSFKJF

Happy now, Empire Avenue?

Interactive Map: Worldwide Facebook Adoption

2010-08-06T10:12:00.000-04:00

I love me an interactive map! The good people at ReadWriteWeb just created one illustrating Facebook's global presence and market penetration. It's pretty interesting. Nearly half the U.S. population is on Facebook (most of whom HAVE to be people I went to High School with or people with a proclivity for posting pictures of their children!). Second up is the U.K., and a surprising third is Indonesia. Maybe that's where all those random friend requests are coming from!

Have a look:

New York Times' New Business Model

2010-08-02T14:31:00.000-04:00

The New York Times plans on licensing its iPhone and iPad app technology, creating a platform that other content publishers can use to create their own apps for these devices. The company will charge a one-time licensing fee and a monthly maintenance fee.

It's an interesting move, giving your competition access to the technology you're using for your own apps, but the Times probably knows that proliferation of apps by content providers is inevitable so they might as well profit from it in some way. This will also differentiate the Times from their competition, who have mostly been focused on delivering market research-type services such as survey deployment and consumer insights data.

I'm curious to see other strategies that the media / publishing industry concocts to tap into new revenue streams and stay viable as a business.

Digital Trends: Visual Search

2010-07-29T11:55:00.000-04:00

Visual search is quickly emerging as the way to search for items on the internet. Related to Augmented Reality, visual search allows you to search based on an image rather than text. In most instances, you take a picture of an object and receive search results.

If you own an Android phone and have the Google Goggles app, then you know what visual search is about. Unfortunately, the app isn't available for the iPhone, but Amazon.com's app includes a new feature called Amazon Remembers, which allows you to take a picture of an object and Amazon will identify it for you for the purposes of purchasing it off Amazon.com. To a lesser extent, bar-code scanning apps like Red Laser might also be considered visual search since you're using the image of the bar code to search for the product.

So now in addition to audio search options like SoundHound and Shazam (SoundHound also lets you sing into the app to find the name of a song), we can search visually. Google is planning on creating APIs for its image recognition technology, so we'll start to see this functionality built into other apps and services in the future.

I'm curious to see how companies apply this technology. I'm waiting for a magazine to come out with an app that identifies each article of clothing in the pictures and links to where you can purchase that article of clothing directly. I'd use that app, and my bank account would suffer.

Pencil it in my Tungle.me Calendar

2010-07-26T16:13:00.000-04:00

I just came across this service that integrates all your calendars and allows people to view when you're available to schedule meetings with you.

While most people may not have a direct need for this because their colleagues can view their Outlook or Lotus Notes calendars to find out when they're free, this service is great for freelance or independent workers who aren't part of a corporate infrastructure. It allows clients or collaborators to see when they're free, reducing the back-and-forth of trying to find a date and time that works best for both parties.

Tungle.me integrates your calendars from Outlook, Lotus Notes, iCal, and Google Calendar, among others to provide an aggregated calendar. The service is available online and for iPhones and Blackberry's. Pretty neat.

Big Career in the Big City

2010-07-01T14:13:00.000-04:00

For those of you interested in learning about how to get a job (and a life) in New York, I'd recommend reading the recently published book by Vicki Salemi, Big Career in the Big City: Land a Job and Get a Life in New York.

The book gives some great advice on how to get a job and shares stories from people who live and work in New York. Vicki interviewed me to understand the story behind how I moved to the city and essentially got a life while I was here. Most of the career advice I provided was aggregated into the body of knowledge. I don't think I shared anything all that remarkable about finding a job in the city other than emphasizing the importance of networking, volunteering, and working your ass off.

Most of my attributable contributions came in the "How to Get a Life" part of the book. I suppose those were the more entertaining stories I told. But I think it's important, when you live here, to enjoy the city and take advantage of everything it has to offer. That's why you're here, right? If you wanted to sit at home and watch American Idol like a pop culture drone, you could do it somewhere else paying one third the rent!

But for those who aspire to live in New York, consider picking up a copy of this book as a good guide.

McFrankenNuggets

2010-06-27T16:14:00.000-04:00

According to a CNN.com article, not all McNuggets are created equal. Apparently ones in the UK are lower in calories and fat. U.S. McNuggets contain a litany of polysyllabic ingredients that sound more like a chemistry class than a home economics class. The McDonald's spokesperson said that the differences account for the various local palates. That makes sense to me. Americans like more fat in their food. All the more reason to stay away from fast food.

Having said that, I ate a 6-piece chicken McNugget at about 2am last week... and it was McDelicious!

Betty White: Superstar

2010-06-18T12:18:00.000-04:00

This week's premiere episode of Hot in Cleveland was "the most-watched show on cable". The show is about three aging women from LA, played by three aging actresses, who decide to live in Cleveland after their flight to Paris had to make an emergency landing there. So far one of them has decided to stay and rents a house that comes with a caretaker, played by Betty White.

I watched the show on Wednesday and it's not the best. It's cheesy dumbed down sitcom humor, but I'm sure people are mostly watching it for Betty White's one-liners, all of which were already publicized in the teaser commercials. I'm not sure that anyone is really watching the show for the other actresses, but will tolerate the plot just to wait for the next one-liner from Betty White. I'm curious to see how the ratings are for the second and third episodes.

US Postal Service Toy Story Commercial

2010-06-09T21:44:00.000-04:00

The US Postal Service is running a commercial with a Toy Story tie-in.

I don't really understand what Toy Story has to do with the USPS, but I think it's great that the voice of the pig is Cliff (John Ratzenberger) the mailman from Cheers. Brilliant.

McDonald's Gay-Themed Commercial

2010-06-03T19:35:00.000-04:00

The interwebs have been all a twitter about the new gay-themed ad McDonald's released in France recently. A lot of the buzz has been all over the place. Obviously there are people condemning it for conservative and religious reasons, but once again that has nothing to do with anything. More importantly, I'm just curious to understand the point of the commercial. Here it is, in case you missed it:

The chain's "Come As You Are" tagline isn't necessarily reflected in the ad as well, for two reasons:

1) The commercial takes place in a McDonald's, but there isn't really any interaction with McDonald's employees, so this scene might as well have taken place in a church. McDonald's isn't conveying an inviting image as much as it's just describing itself as a place where life takes place. That's probably not the point they wanted to make.

2) If this boy were really "coming as he was", shouldn't the commercial have featured the father asking the boy which boy in his class picture he had a crush on or was dating? Instead, the boy is in the closet and doesn't tell his father that he's gay. So who did this boy "come" as -- someone who knows who he is, but doesn't tell anyone? That doesn't really make sense.

I think it's great that McDonald's is trying to be inclusive in their advertising. Apparently this one commercial is part of a series. But I think they missed the mark a bit on this particular one. Although, a lot of people have viewed the commercial and are talking about it now, so maybe to them it's Mission: Accomplished.

The World Science Festival is Here!

2010-06-03T19:22:00.000-04:00

The World Science Festival is happening this week in New York and I'm ready to nerd out! Last year I went to a panel on cyborgs and cybernetics, which was framed through the lens of the show Battlestar Galactica. This year they're doing one on the Science of Star Trek. I really want to check out Modern MacGyvers: Innovations for a Developing World, but I don't think I'll be able to make it.

If you have some time, try to check out some of the panels and presentations. It's an opportunity to learn something (most likely) different from what you normally engage in day-to-day.

You can check out the entire schedule here.

Gimmie Google Goggles

2010-05-29T01:54:00.000-04:00

I'm a little late to the game because I just discovered Google Goggles after someone with an Android told me about it. To be fair, the Google Goggles app isn't available for the iPhone, so I suppose that's why I've only heard of it now. I think it's been out since December 2009.

However, I desperately want the app to be made available for the iPhone. It's amazing! Check out this video:

While the general concept of visual search is interesting, right now it might be more "fun" than practical for things like logos, places, etc. However, the product recognition and text translation features add significant value. I'm particularly interested in using it for business cards. It would replace those business card scanners that people often use, saving time and money.

Regardless of the myriad of things I'd use the app for, I unfortunately don't have access to it. So until then, I guess I'll have to formulate my searches the old fashioned way: using my noggin.

Can KIN Win?

2010-05-26T14:00:00.001-04:00

I keep seeing a barrage of commercials about Microsoft's KIN phone and for the life of me couldn't figure out what it really was. The commercials were pretty unclear, particularly regarding that dot they're referring to as "the spot." Finally I just caved in and did a search on YouTube for something of a tutorial:

So it's basically a phone that allows you to "easily" consume and share media. Although the video points out that you can't read spreadsheets with it (not that I've ever looked at a spreadsheet on my iPhone). However, without having played around with one, it seems easy to get lost in. There doesn't seem to be a lot of organization -- the user wanders through the labyrinth of functions and features, consuming and sharing information. It seems like it would be hard to mentally map where you are. But again, I haven't played with it, so maybe it's very easy to know where you are, what you're doing, which information you're sharing and with whom.

I'm not sure that the KIN is so amazing that it will eclipse the iPhone or even the Nexus One, however. It seems a bit gimmicky to me. But maybe it's something that Sidekick users would enjoy using. If that's the target market, then the KIN might be successful.

Popular Paparazzi Piano Performance

2010-05-12T14:58:00.000-04:00

Things go viral really quickly these days. Last night when I saw a friend post this on Facebook, and after I subsequently posted it on another friend's page, the number of views was at around 100,000. Today it's at 1.2 million. It's only been half a day!

If you haven't seen it yet, it's a kid playing the piano and singing Lady Gaga's Paparazzi. He's kind of amazing. Here's what you've missed:

Betty White Does SNL

2010-05-09T17:38:00.002-04:00

Last night's episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Betty White was hilarious. That's no small achievement, considering Saturday Night Live hasn't been 'hilarious' in a long time. But the combination of Betty White, musical guest Jay-Z, and special appearances by SNL veterans from previous seasons made the episode the highest rated episode in 18 months. Final ratings apparently will come in on Thursday, but so far I think it's safe to say that this was one of the funniest shows Saturday Night Live has done in a very long time.

Thanks to a grassroots Facebook campaign, where over half a million people joined the group, SNL decided to have the 88 year old actress host the show. The campaign became a phenomenon and showed the power of social media to be the voice of consumers. I'm sure it also helped SNL producers by giving them a nearly guaranteed audience for the show.

Going forward, SNL should consider decided on their hosts based on popular opinion. It would be a better way to guarantee eyes watching the screen. At the very least it might make the sure more relevant. SNL might do well to try to request more dynamic feedback on its content from viewers. I know that the group of us watching the episode last night couldn't even bear to watch one more "MacGruber" sketch, which seemed to happen at least three times throughout the whole show. If I could text to vote, I would have voted that sketch off the show. It's just not funny.

I'm waiting for the day when consumers can provide more direct input into the content we're served up in these particular types of shows. Then maybe a typical SNL episode will be a full 90 minutes of hilarity instead of just 3 minutes of it. Or, they'll just have to bring Betty White back on again to bring those ratings up!

Next Gen iPhone Adventure

2010-04-28T10:26:00.002-04:00

I'm a big fan of any "choose your own adventure" type of map, so obviously I was ecstatic when Fast Company created one mapping out the mystery of the next generation iPhone. When I chose my adventure, I ended up at "Bow to Supreme Leader Steve Jobs!", because who would ever leave their phone behind in a bar? Yes, some people do, but probably not someone testing a new iPhone that's not on the market yet.

In case you missed it, here's the rundown of the alleged new iPhone. It seems as if all the new features aren't really new, but just bring it up to par with similar smart phones, such as a higher resolution camera with a flash. But regardless, I still want one!

The Power of Glee

2010-04-21T11:05:00.045-04:00

Last night's The Power of Madonna Glee episode drove home the multimedia, multichannel influence of the Fox television show. The album of the music featured in the episode was already #1 on iTunes today.

Fox is doing everything it can to monetize the new show, selling every bit of content possible. A Glee concert tour has been planned for this summer, with tickets retailing for $94 at Radio City. Fox is leveraging News Corp's other assets, integrating the dying MySpace property into the show through a MySpace Karaoke contest. There's also a Glee app for the iPhone and iPad for $0.99 at the iTunes store. And of course, after each week's episode, the music featured in that episode, in the form of singles or an album, is available for purchase at the iTunes store.

Fox is building out a new business model for financing and generating revenue, beyond just ad revenue, in order to sustain the show and increase its relevance. Of course, the show's premise and quality lend itself well to this model, but it's something that other shows should examine and use as a model. With waning advertising revenue, it's important for networks to be able to deliver quality shows (enough with this Reality TV nonsense!) that tell great stories and employ proper actors. In order to do this, networks need to get creative and look at alternative revenue streams to support their shows. Hopefully this is a model that will work for other shows as well.

Ask Aardvark?

2010-02-13T14:38:00.004-05:00

The social search start-up, Aardvark, has developed an interesting way to answer your questions -- by routing them to your most qualified friends and getting their responses. Just a day ago the company was acquired by Google, so they apparently see value in the model. I think it's interesting, although I'm still a bit skeptical.

I haven't created an account yet (I've become more conservative when signing up for anything that wants to tap into my network), so I can only speak hypothetically. As I understand it, you tweet a question to @vark and Aardvark uses some sort of algorithm to determine who your most qualified friends are to answer the questions you've posed. Then it seems that those friends are ping'd and asked to respond to you. Et voila.

In theory I think it's great, since people tend to trust their friends' opinions more than those of strangers or a guidebook. In that sense, it gives them a one-up on companies like Yelp or Zagat -- even that KGB texting service.

But we've all experienced those friends who tend to post things ad nauseum and clog your Facebook or Twitter feed with their inanity. So I'm a little concerned that this is what would happen if I were to join. I'm sure there's a way to filter them out, though (let's hope).

I'm curious to see how the service fares and what Google plans to do with it. It has the potential to be a great, if not somewhat evil, tool for marketers to influence consumers' decision-making and behavior patterns.

Adopt a Scientist

2009-12-14T16:38:00.003-05:00

I just received an email from amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, with an interesting approach to fundraising that I haven't seen applied to a research-focused non-profit. This year, amfAR is asking you to "give the gift of science" by adopting one of six featured scientists doing different types of HIV/AIDS research. In doing so, you can "read updates, track progress, and take pride in knowing that your gift is helping amfAR and its researchers work toward a world without AIDS." Pretty neat.

I know this is pretty much how scientists receive funding for their research projects, but it's usually coming from an organization via a grant, as opposed to multiple individual consumers. I'm also aware that it's not a new approach to fundraising -- I mean, Sally Struthers has been using it for years -- but I think for this type of market, it was a whitespace that amfAR capitalized on. Hopefully others will be inclined to adopt a scientist this holiday season.

You've Got Innovative Ideas -- Now What?

2009-12-14T15:54:00.002-05:00

I just wrote an article / blog post for New York Enterprise Report on innovation, entitled "You've Got Innovative Ideas -- Now What?" Click on over to check it out if you're interested. It seems like it's going to be a semi-regular thing, so RSS it if you need another outlet for my ramblings.

Neato iPhone Apps

2009-12-05T11:39:00.000-05:00

I'd written an old post on another blog about iPhone apps I think people should consider downloading. I thought I'd syndicate the content on this blog as well. Below is a list of useful apps:

Remote: Great for controlling your iTunes without having to be at the computer — you just need to be connected to the same wireless network.
Air Mouse: even better for controlling your entire computer without having to be there. Your iPhone is turned into a either a mouse or a trackpad.
WorkSnug: For the mobile worker, the never-ending search for your ‘third place’, complete with WiFi and coffee, is over with this app that uses augmented reality. So far it only works in London, but they’re going to launch it in NYC and San Francisco soon, I hope.
Shazam / Midomi: Find out the title and artist of the song you’re listening to. This would be particularly useful if I listened to the radio, since they never seem to tell you what you’re listening to when they’re playing songs. Similarly, it’s just as applicable in a bar or lounge. I use both apps because sometimes one works better than the other.
Facebook / MySpace (to a lesser degree) / Twitteriffic / AIM / LinkedIn: Gotta stay connected to the grid!
Loopt: Sometimes it’s good to know where your friends are. Sometimes not. Either way, this app helps you locate them.
WhatsApp: Send text messages to friends over the internet, without having to pay for text messages. I mostly use this app for texting friends in Paris and Beijing — much more cost-effective.
Skype: Make cheaper international calls through your wifi connection instead of using mobile phone minutes.
Yelp: Fairly useful app for finding things. I just like the ‘Monocle’ / augmented reality feature.
Lose It!: For the health conscious or persnickety, track how many calories you ingest and calories are exerted by exercise. It’s cheaper than calling Jenny.
WhiteNoise: Block out unwanted sounds.
Trapster: If I drove and didn’t live in New York, this would be a very useful app. It tells you where speed traps are.
OpenTable: Make restaurant reservations straight from your phone (without having to interact with a person, if that’s your preference).
Starbucks Mobile Card: Check your balance and refill your Starbucks card so you never have to go without coffee! If you live in San Francisco, you might actually be able to pay using the app.
Fake Call: What’s that? Billy fell down a well? Fake yourself out of a jam with this app. Set it and it will call you in just enough time for you to seem surprised, then launch into a staged panic while making your escape.
TripCase: Keep track of your flights, delays, departure gates, etc.

iBall Magic 8 Ball: When you’re on the fence and need a second opinion, Magic 8 Ball always has an answer for you.
DropBox: Link up multiple computers and your iPhone to a shared folder where you can access documents from anywhere.
Bump: Trade contact information Obama-style by fist-bumping it to your new friend.

Is Sprint's Network the 'Most Dependable'?

2009-11-24T20:30:00.002-05:00

Apparently someone's doing their job. An ad watchdog (these actually exist?) refutes Sprint's claim that it has the 'most dependable' 3G network. Apparently AT&T is challenging Verizon Wireless's claims that it has the widest cell phone coverage. Can't we all just agree that everyone's service pretty much sucks? We're generations behind Europe's mobile phone capabilities, so why both fighting over who's the least underachieving of the bunch?

Actually, the only company who needs to step up or be left behind is AT&T. Their coverage genuinely is sub-par -- where was this "watchdog" when they were making those 'fewest dropped calls' commercials -- particularly the 3G coverage and once iPhones are opened up to other networks (regardless of how crappy those are), people will flee en masse. Hell, I'd jump ship right now, except there's really nowhere better to go, sadly.

WorkSnug is Here!!

2009-11-20T09:27:00.003-05:00

Get excited, because a new tool for mobile working just launched (in London). WorkSnug is an app that "uses Augmented Reality to connect mobile workers to the nearest and best places to work in the city." I can't wait for it to be rolled out in New York. Check out the video below for more information and a better sense of how the app works. And download the app now. It's free!

Thank You for Being a Friend

2009-10-27T22:00:00.004-04:00

As if anyone needed one more reason to love Bea Arthur, she gives us one more. She left $300,000 in her will to the Ali Forney Center, a non-profit that provides housing for homeless LGBT youth in New York City. I have no clue what AFC's operating budget is, but I'm sure this is an enormous help to them, particularly given the tough economic year for non-profits.

Kind of amazing. Very touching. I wish more people were like her. RIP.

Rhapsody Commercial

2009-09-14T09:19:00.002-04:00

Rhapsody was one of the sponsors of MTV's Video Music Awards last night, so their commercials ran throughout the course of the show. The commercial featuring Jay-Z is pretty brilliant. It wasn't the first time I'd seen it, but I was reminded again of how great it was. Who knew a company like Rhapsody would produce such a great ad?

The commercial goes from one scene to the next and depicts each of Jay-Z's album covers over the years, a perfect match for a service that lets you listen to "millions of songs, thousands of artists" online. Each of the scenes in the commercial are meant to appear as if they were all done one after the other all in one take. That probably wasn't the case, but if it were, that would make the commercial even better.

Have a look for yourself:

Catherine Tate Show - Lauren's French Exam

2009-07-23T00:00:00.005-04:00

This is hilarious. It's kinda similar to Little Britain, which I love. I guess this chick is like Vicki Pollard. British humor is apparently all the same. Regardless, this cracked me up.

SYTYCD

2009-07-22T23:58:00.000-04:00

This is kind of amazing.

Top 10 Lists

2009-07-09T21:37:00.002-04:00

I'm a big fan of lists. They're fun to review, help organize my life, and are just interesting in general. I came across Time Magazine's "Top 10 Everything of 2008" list. Surely I'm late to the party in discovering this article, but regardless, it's still an interesting read. Top 10 Buzzwords was particularly amusing.

Web Side Story

2009-07-06T22:39:00.005-04:00

Sometimes CollegeHumor produces some funny stuff. The eHarmony skit is hilarious.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

TSA Harassed Passenger

2009-06-22T20:47:00.003-04:00

Impossible! The TSA is only there to help keep us safe from threats that may or may not exist. Surely they would never harass a passenger, especially not the guy in this video.

Apparently he was traveling with $4,000-some dollars, which isn't a crime and is really not THAT much money, and the good people at the TSA stopped and detained him. He probably missed his flight. That's a bummer. Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think we need these faux-tight "security" measures anymore. Maybe once upon a time, but I think they're more of a hassle than they are helpful. Or, their efforts are focused in the wrong directions. Maybe they should be as stringent with the pilots to make sure they don't die while over the atlantic.

More importantly, what's the app this guy used to record the conversation. I can see the commercial now, Apple: "Harassed by the TSA and need to record the conversation as evidence for a lawsuit against them? There's an app for that!"

How the Mormon's Stole Everything

2009-05-28T00:06:00.001-04:00

This hilarious, but sadly true, video has been making its way around the interwebs, particularly Facebook. It cracks me up. I love Dr. Seuss!

More Gay & Lesbian Videos At LogoOnline.com

Once You Go Black(berry) You Can't Go Back

2009-05-17T21:52:00.002-04:00

OK, the title is misleading. I'm actually addicted to the iPhone, not a Blackberry.

My iPhone got fried the other day after I charged it on a regular Apple charger. How it got fried is beyond me, but the thing is dead. And now I have to go to Apple to try to get them to give me a new one, since their charger killed my phone.

Long story short, I now have a cheapo phone to tide me over until the new iPhone is released in June. I never realized how much I rely on my iPhone, but I think I'm going throw withdrawal symptoms. I've got the shakes!!

How do I miss thee, let me count the ways: Not being able to incessantly check my email or Facebook is driving me crazy. I heard a song being played this weekend and wanted to know what the song was, but since I don't have an iPhone, then I can't use Shazam! On the way back home from Fire Island, I wanted to know how far we were from the city, for which I would normally use Google Maps and GPS, but alas -- no iPhone. And the most basic problem of not having all my contacts in the new cheapo phone I have, since apparently contacts on iPhones aren't stored on sim cards.

Who knew it would be possible to become so addicted to things you really had no need for before. But here I am... cold sweats and shakes until the new iPhone comes out, or unless the good people at the Apple store somehow decide to give me a new one because their products caused mine to melt.

Slow Global Warming; Start Global Slimming

2009-04-20T17:10:00.003-04:00

In honor of Earth Month (right?), I thought I'd write about an article I read on CNN today. Apparently research shows that obese people contribute more to global warming than their thin counterparts. It's a fairly "duh" statement, but it's yet another simple way to help reduce the effects we have on the planet.

The article, though, is humorously harsh, pointing out that it takes "more energy to move heavier people" -- that's a lot of jet fuel! My favorite quote, though, is "a population of heavier people contributes more harmful gases to the planet". They're talking about greenhouse gases, not the kind prevented by Beano.

But it makes sense; obese people just use more resources -- food, clothing, etc. Just added incentive for everyone to be in shape. Save yourself, save a planet. Or is it, save a planet, save a planet.

Winamp, Anyone?

2009-04-20T15:24:00.001-04:00

When did winamp disappear? Yes, it's still around, but before iTunes, "back in the day", winamp was the dominant mp3 player. Now I don't know anyone who uses it. It's become the Netscape of mp3 players. Ouch!

Hemp House?

2009-04-09T14:16:00.003-04:00

Being eco-friendly just got a lot more interesting. I just read a short article in Fast Company about the possibility of houses being made out of hemp, or at least using hemp as the main building material. Apparently this new material would have a "better than zero carbon footprint." Amazing.

And just think, if your house accidentally burns down, you'll probably be a lot more chill about the whole situation. Silver lining!

All of This Has Happened Before and All of it Will Happen Again

2009-03-22T17:28:00.003-04:00

I referenced a quote from Battlestar Galactica, since the final episode of the series aired Friday night. Best. Episode. Ever.

But I digress. It's an interesting point -- that everything happens in cycles and is recycled. There's very little 'original' creativity these days. Movies are all adaptations of books -- Harry Potter, Twilight, X-Men, etc.

To further illustrate the point of 'the old becoming the new', I came across this video on YouTube describing the 'inspirations' for Beyonce's music video for Single Ladies. It was actually really interesting to watch, since I'm pretty clueless about choreography. Basically the video was an homage to the late choreographer, Bob Fosse. Check it out:

In somewhat related news, I just found out from a friend that apparently dip dye is making a comeback. Ugh. Some things are better off left in the past.

News Recap - March 18, 2009

2009-03-18T09:30:00.002-04:00

A quick recap of today's headlines...

CNN: Average preemie cost $49,000 in first year

Octo-Mom better start looking for a real job or a sugar-daddy (who isn't Uncle Sam!) because she's looking at nearly $400,000 in expenses this year.

CNN: Smallest known North American dinosaur found

Awesome. Maybe they'll include it in the next "Jurassic Park: Attack of the Clones". The new dinosaur lived 75 million years ago, which is technically the Cretaceous period not the Jurassic, but moviemakers have to keep it interesting! I guess it's not as far off as when some other woman thought dinosaurs were around.

CNN: Pope visits Africa, reaffirms ban on condoms

Really?? Is the Pope isn't aware of the rampant AIDS problem in Africa? The Pope mentioned that "the Catholic Church ... is probably the largest provider of HIV care in the world." Well yeah, if you're going to contribute to the problem, it'd be nice if you tried to be part of the solution.

NYTimes: Records show high cost for faulty elevators

Duh!!! When elevators don't work, sometimes people die.

NYTimes: iPhone is gaining some editing skills

YES!!!!!!!!! Welcome to Blackberry 1.0!

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

2009-03-14T14:57:00.002-04:00

Will the new, vastly unpopular re-design of Facebook to somehow mimic Twitter drive people away from it and to another social networking site? Maybe.

Is it possible, especially in a social networking environment, that a company would actually listen to its consumers and revert back to the old design? Doubtful.

Suggestions for a new place to go? Back to ASMALLWORLD? Revive Friendster?

A Million Girls Would Kill for that Job

2009-03-12T23:07:00.008-04:00

Sometimes I think it's fun to look at jobs on LinkedIn to see what's out there, especially in this economy. Ouch. I have some friends who have been laid off and aren't really the most tenacious with their job search so sometimes I take it upon myself to have a look for them.

In doing so, I came across this gem of a posting. I love it! Have a read:

Type: Full-time
Experience: Associate
Functions: Administrative
Industries: Marketing and Advertising
Posted: February 22, 2009
Pay Range: $40,000 - $50,000 Per Year

Job Description
- Can you create a CEO Salon at an Upper East Side Townhouse?

- Can you find a Gifted and Talented school for a four year old Chinese girl?

- Can you find a holistic vet, a Japanese Hot Spa in Tokyo, and deliver a cut bamboo arrangement to New Jersey?  And get a corner table in a hot restaurant.  

- No problem?

- Can you do it all in the same 12 hour day?

Company X is in search of a world-class, extremely intelligent Personal Assistant who thrives on stress. This position reports in to the CEO’s high level Business Assistant.   Salary $40,000-$50,000 plus benefits and lots of learning about Futurism, Trends and Marketing.

Skills
Requirements:

- Strong Computer skills – Microsoft Office

- Relishes a 60+ hour week; Company comes first

- Meticulous attention to detail and follow-up

- Hungry to work in a glamorous, intense atmosphere at a wild pace

This job is TOTALLY the job in The Devil Wears Prada! This company is looking for an Emily! For those of you who haven't seen the movie (shame on you!), "Emily" is basically what the boss calls both of her Assistants since she can't be bothered to learn the new one's name. It's priceless.

This seems like a HORRIBLE job! The economy must really be in the shitter. You're basically Second Assistant to a woman with a reputation for being nutty, you have to make miracles happen on a daily basis, you get paid squat, and must love 60+ hour weeks? That's not a job, that's indentured servitude! Why would you ever want to subject yourself to this?

As horrific as it is, I loved reading this job description. It cracks me up when life imitates art.

Are You There, God? It's Me, Evolution

2009-03-05T16:59:00.005-05:00

I came across this chart, on Facebook of all places, from the Economist that shows public acceptance of the theory of evolution for each country.

Does it disturb anyone that the United States is second to last with roughly 37% of the population believing in evolution? Well, I guess it doesn't disturb the other 63% of Americans. Very scary.

I get it -- the more religious the country, the more the population is inclined to not believe in evolution, but the U.S. is 8 countries below Italy, which I think is pretty religious. That means some Americans aren't able to use religious beliefs as a rationale, which means they're just plain stupid. I'll pause while you pretend to be surprised.

When people start pondering when and why America lost its global competitive advantage, just throw this fact in to the melting pot of answers.

Invasion of the Infomercial

2009-02-28T12:04:00.003-05:00

We've all read the article talking about the increase of infomercials during primetime, the most 'famous' of which has been the Snuggie commercial.

Now it seems that real companies selling real products (as opposed to stitched together pieces of felt in the shape of a Jedi Knight cloak that opens in the rear like an O.R. gown) are jumping on the low-brow infomercial format.

Proctor & Gamble's latest commercial for Dryel sounds more like an infomercial than a traditional ad spot. Check out the new commercial on the Dryel website, then check out one of the older commercials for Dryel and compare the different styles. Even Febreze has an infomercial-style video on their site.

If P&G is changing the way they market some of their products, will other companies follow? Surely these commercials are significantly less expensive to create and produce. Given the economic environment, companies are probably looking for a low-cost way to present their products in almost a hard-sell manner that consumers are somewhat accepting of. If that's the case, then I think we're all doomed to 30-second spots that are more cheese than 'art' and DVR will never be more essential for your mental health.

Miley Cyrus Owes me $4,000

2009-02-13T00:04:00.005-05:00

I think my friend put it best when he said, "I want in on this fuckery!"

Apparently a million Asians have filed a class action suit against Miley Cyrus for making 'slanted eyes' in a photo. In total, the suit is seeking $4 billion in damages. Wow.

The suit is kind of ridiculous, but I think if Miley Cyrus made fun of a different race / ethnicity, she'd be coughing up the cash or at least making a public apology. Can't us Asians get some affirmative action, too?? Preferably in the form of a $4,000 check from Hannah Montana!

Here's the picture. She's the one in the middle, with the ugly purple thing in her lap.

Miley Cyrus responded via her blog with some asinine comment:

"In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity! I was simply making a goofy face"

First of all, it's pretty clear that everyone's making some sort of "Asian" face. How can I tell? Because the only Asian in the picture isn't touching his eyes or squinting the shit out of them!!! Secondly, by calling it a "goofy face" she's really just digging herself deeper into a hole. Kids are dumb.

Corey Vidal - A Star Wars a cappella Tribute to John Williams

2009-02-12T23:27:00.005-05:00

I came across this video on YouTube (actually, I think I originally saw it on Facebook) and i'm sure tons of people have seen it before, since I'm never the first to find these things on YouTube. Who has time to sift through all that crap on there? Anyway, I thought it was a really cool video and this kid, Corey Vidal, is really talented. It's an a cappella version of Star Wars and he's singing all the parts, at the same time -- well, split screen, Brady Bunch-style. Check it out:

I guess there was this whole issue about Warner Music taking the video down and being an evil copyright / piracy stick in the mud, but maybe that's been resolved. Anyway, I'm sure this kid is going to be one of the next online 'celebrities'. At least he has talent, unlike some others.

Octuplet's Mother - A Case Study in Irresponsibility

2009-02-11T23:17:00.002-05:00

CNN had a nice little video about the mother of the octuplets, showing her living conditions, describing how she's living on food stamps from the government, which was confirmed by the mother's publicist.

There are too many things wrong with this situation. This woman birthed a litter of children. A LITTER!! That's ridiculous. She's unemployed and is living in her parents' 3-bedroom home. She has no income, receives $400-something a month in food stamps, yet somehow has her own publicist??

I saw some article where she was hoping to get companies to sponsor her or donate product for her babies. I hope no company is foolish enough to do it. It sets a bad precedent -- further re-emphasizing the consequence-free world we apparently live in (bailout, anyone?) -- and really the companies have nothing to gain. Because of this woman's poor decision-making, society is going to have to foot the bill (either financially or socially) for her children. If they don't grow up to be hoodlums, then someone's going to have to pay for their education, etc. Clearly this woman can't work -- both due to a lack of willingness and now a lack of time -- so where is the money going to come from? Us.

And I'm sick of reading stories about this whole "anti-large family" movement. I think 14 children is more than any one person can handle and -- oh yeah -- we're in a recession, so she picked a bad time to shoot those kids out of her womb. Large families are fine, as long as you can afford them. Clearly, this woman is incapable of making the right decisions as she opted to buy a Publicist instead of groceries. She better pray they do away with those child labor laws really soon!

News Recap - Feb 9, 2009

2009-02-09T19:00:00.004-05:00

Another quick recap of today's homepage articles from CNN.com and NYTimes.com:

CARE:

CNN: Ten Ways to Become a Better Person

This is really nice list of easy things you can start doing right away. Number 10 is a great idea. I don't know if I agree with #4. Instead, I would say over tip someone for good service. At least you're positively reinforcing the behavior instead of possibly reinforcing bad behavior.

NYTimes: Young Black Men Unaware of HIV Risks

The level of ignorance of the people in this article is somewhat inexcusable, but maybe if you were completely uneducated about the disease, then you wouldn't know better. Still, I find it hard to believe that the survey participants are so unaware of how HIV is transmitted. Although granted, it is the South. Maybe the news finally reached there... 25 years later.

CNN: In Hard Times, You Can Bet on Vegas

Time to take a trip to Vegas. Maybe I'll win my own bailout! Everyone else is getting one. I just won't report it on my taxes, because "whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas".

DON'T CARE:

CNN: Push to make Porn Star a Senator No Stunt, Fan Says

Seriously? This is democraZy at its best. Well, considering some past political candidates, I don't see "porn star" as any less of a former career. I'm sure she's had to 'negotiate' some tough situations. Ok, I can't do a list of porn-related political jokes. It's too easy. But I love that she's going on a "listening tour". I'm sure the men in her constituency will give her an earful.

NYTimes: Meg Whitman Entering the Race for Governor

And on the other side of the political / occupational spectrum... Unfortunately, I don't think Meg's "listening tour" will drum up as large an audience.

CNN: Will Recession Dull Hip Hop's Bling?

The article questions whether rappers will be more fiscally responsible as a result of the recession. Umm, point of order: Hip Hop culture is about over-extravagance furnished via layaway options. It's never been about what you can actually afford. It's all about rollin' on 30" rims encrusted with diamonds while drunk Cristal. Tackiness personified. You can't BUY that. You have to put it on layaway!

CNN: Wrigley's Puts Chris Brown Campaign on Hold

I was wondering when this was going to happen. They're quick!

News Recap

2009-02-04T19:13:00.006-05:00

So I decided to try something new today and take some headlines from the Times and CNN and bucket them into two categories: Care and Don't Care. There's so much crap news out there that adds to the clutter. It's interesting to see what you should be reading vs. what's just filler so some reporter has something to say in print or on TV.

CARE:

NYTimes: Obama Calls for 'Common Sense' on Executive Pay

Whatever happened to that whole trend of pay for performance? If your company goes bankrupt because of you, you should probably go bankrupt as well. Isn't the captain supposed to go down with the ship? Well, a noble captain would.

CNN: Young People Who Rock: Marvelyn Brown

HIV is still an epidemic and it seems like young people don't have an appreciation for the fact that in some areas the disease is essentially airborne. This girl (woman) is educating people about HIV and at the same time trying to de-stigmatize the disease.

DON'T CARE:

CNN: Rabbit Ears Get Reprieve with Digital TV Delay

I thought we were in an economic crisis. People have time to spend on this crap? It's TV Social Darwinism. They've been running those awful ads for forever. If you 1) suck so much that your TV still requires rabbit ears and 2) haven't gotten off your couch potato ass to get the FREE converter, then you don't deserve TV.

CNN: Michael Phelps' Marijuana Mess

Everyone's smoked pot at some point. He won a gold metal and smoked pot. That makes him an even better swimmer. Get over it. In case you haven't heard, the economy is crumbling around us. Weed may be the only currency we have left!!

NYTimes: Ah, Yes, More About Me? Here are '25 Random Things'

This is not news. It's a Facebook chain letter. Nobody cares. Why is this an article? The same thing happened on MySpace with "surveys" on the bulletin board. It's old news, but old people who are new to social networking might think it's news. And there you have your answer.

Zeros for Heroes

2009-02-02T22:48:00.003-05:00

Tonight's episode of Heroes completely sucked. The plot is just all over the place. The characters are all completely incompetent. It's just frustrating to watch.

Although, it's not as frustrating as the annoying Sprint commercials they play in between the bits of pointless plot. Then there's the whole "integrated marketing" mess around the show -- "Want to learn more about your favorite Heroes? Text 'I don't care' to this number", or "Log on to NBC.com to follow the story of some other Hero you've never heard of and probably don't care about."

Instead of trying to pull consumers across all types of media, shouldn't NBC just focus on delivering interesting content that will keep people coming back? I think this is going to be the last season for Heroes, mostly because the show is schizophrenic and has lost its way. I mean, they get into a plane crash? What, is the show going to merge with "Lost" to create one huge advertising machine? Pathetic.

It's sad. I really like the show, but this season looks to be as disappointing as the last. I wonder which horrible reality TV show will take its place?

The Snuggie Phenomenon

2009-02-01T01:19:00.002-05:00

Lately I've seen a lot of articles and press about the success of the Snuggie. I don't understand it. It's the stupidest product ever made, yet allegedly people are buying it. Well, I can see how that could work. I think their consumer base is divided between two groups: Morons and People buying them as a joke to make fun of the Morons.

The commercial is just ridiculous, too. The arguments and benefits don't make any sense. And you look like a druid! And they come in HORRIBLE colors!

I think this video pretty much sums up the Snuggie.

More Stuff White People Like

2009-01-30T15:36:00.003-05:00

Now I don't know if it's the Percocets I'm on right now or the actual content, but I thought this video was really amusing. If you don't know already, I'm obsessed with the "Stuff White People Like" blog. Now the blogger, Christian Lander, has written a book (well, he wrote it a little bit ago) and is being interviewed by CNN. Check it out:

One day I'll be witty enough to come up with something equally as hilarious, then turn it into a book. Well, I hope.

Balloon Animals Are Fun!

2009-01-27T23:35:00.003-05:00

Best commercial ever. It's cute, funny, effective, and provocative. Good job, Durex.

Death by Facebook Status

2009-01-25T13:14:00.002-05:00

A 41 year old man stabbed his 26 year old wife to death after she changed her Facebook relationship status to "Single". The two had been living separately for a month before she changed her status. I guess that pissed the guy off and he went postal on her.

I've been waiting to hear a story about someone announcing their relationship was over via Facebook. It's much harsher than an email or text message breakup mostly because it's a passive-aggressive move. Well, in this case, she was passive and he got aggressive. Tragic.

The Power of 'Free'

2009-01-16T09:27:00.003-05:00

It's (conservatively) 10 degrees in New York right now and on my walk to work I saw the most amazing (and confusing) thing. I passed a Jamba Juice where someone was standing outside giving out free samples. Free samples of what? It doesn't matter. The fact is that people were quickly approaching this person to take whatever she was giving out.

When it's so cold that the thought of even exposing an appendage to the frigid air is inconceivable (a problem solved by another product), why would you even think of approaching a free sample from a company that primarily makes cold products? Because we're in a recession and people love free things.

I actually think the product they were promoting was hot oatmeal, although I didn't see any steam coming from the cup, but everyone received a coupon as well. Of course, this is all speculation as I wasn't about to stop and spend any more time in the cold than was necessary, even if it detracts from the 'credibility' of my blog post (an oxymoron anyway).

But it was definitely a unique way to market the product and stand out from the crowd. Definitely an interesting social experiment to see how peoples' desire for free stuff vastly outweighs their basic human need to survive (ie, not lose an appendage to frostbite). Curious, what other ways exist to set yourself apart from your competition by playing on your consumers base desires? Free hugs and kisses?

Obesity Obscenity

2009-01-12T23:28:00.003-05:00

My friend sent me a link to this video on YouTube. It's pretty disgusting and I didn't find it as funny as my friend thought I probably would. But what I found to be interesting was that this video "may not be suitable for minors".

Why?

Honestly, I don't think it's because the guy is half naked. There are tons of shirtless guys on YouTube and none of their videos get flagged as inappropriate. It's not because because he's singing along to "I Kissed a Girl". Tons of people have already done that on YouTube. It's not because he's "dancing" provocatively. Everyone on YouTube does that.

The only reason why I think this video has been flagged is because this guy is obese. Well, that's to say, he's obese and doing all the things I just mentioned in the previous paragraph. That makes for obscene content. Ok, technically I guess he has breasts, but they're man breasts -- "bitch tits", if you will -- so that shouldn't be grounds for flagging something as obscene.

So I maintain that this video has been flagged purely because this person is obese, thus making its content disgusting and therefore obscene. How strange. It's an interesting type of discrimination.

Thanks, But I Already Knew That

2008-12-24T23:01:00.000-05:00

I don't understand why we need research to tell us what we already know. Seems like a waste of resources to me.

Apparently it took a poll to tell us that 64% of Americans think Dick Cheney is a poor, or the worst, Vice President in history. Why do the poll? It's already common knowledge!

Moreover, it took more than a year for the National Bureau of Economic Research to tell us that we've been in a recession for the past year. Yeah, we already knew that, too. Except actually, we've been in a recession ever since 2001. But thanks for making it 'official.' Now someone can 'officially' do something about it instead of just living in denial about it.

I understand the fact that things take time to evaluate before an 'official' declaration can be made, but how does it really take that long? By the time the declaration is made, the damage has already been done. We could have been fixing the problem instead of proving its existence.

Holiday Cards: Good for the Soul; Bad for the Environment

2008-12-22T22:39:00.003-05:00

It's always nice sending and receiving holiday cards. They're a great opportunity to reach out to someone and let them know you're thinking about them. For some, it may sadly be the only piece of communication you receive from (or send to) them all year. So it's a nice way to catch up.

But do we really need to send holiday cards? As much as it is nice to receive one, I basically throw them out once I get them. Well, I keep some, but most just go in the trash. Cards from close friends, or ones with pictures, I'll keep. But the rest, particularly ones from vendors, I'll just trash. It doesn't mean I don't appreciate them, but after that 5 seconds of reading an "aww, that was nice of them", into the trash it goes.

I think everyone should consider switching to e-cards. They're lame and seem impersonal, I know, but they're more environmentally friendly. Plus, they're free. People are starting to do it now, but it hasn't completely caught on. Maybe I'm just pushing for e-cards because I haven't actually sent out any paper cards yet and we're counting down until Christmas. But I'm going to pretend that I'm an environmentalist today and stick with my position on choosing the eco-friendly route and replacing e-cards with traditional holiday cards.

Happy Holidays!

(consider that your card)

O.J. in J.A.I.L.

2008-12-05T17:00:00.002-05:00

Who knew you could get up to 33 years for robbery? It seems pretty harsh, but I guess he did dodge that whole 'murder' thing. You would think that if you got away with committing murder that you'd pretty much lay low for the rest of your life and not cause a ruckus, but I guess that's not O.J.'s style. And now look where it's gotten him. *Slam*

Missing Me Some TLC

2008-11-24T23:39:00.002-05:00

I was going through my iTunes library, deleting songs I don't need, and I started listening to TLC's Unpretty. The video's a bit cheesy, but it's a good message. I'm sad there's no more TLC. Well, there's T and C, but L died.

Presidential Pardons

2008-11-24T19:44:00.002-05:00

I forgot one of the best parts to being all chummy with the President: Pardons. I find it hysterical that our Constitution basically turns the last days of a Presidency into a game of Monopoly where you just hand out "Get out of Jail Free" passes.

Bush just granted another round of pardons. Skimming through the list, I didn't realize what a drug-addict he is!

Here are the drug-related pardons:

Andrew Foster Harley of Falls Church, Va. Harley was convicted of wrongful use and distribution of marijuana and cocaine.
Robert Earl Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala., who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles, who was convicted for unlawful use of a telephone in a narcotics felony.

That's three drug-related pardons out of a total of 14 this time around. That's a good chunk.

I wonder, if I were President, who I'd pardon. I guess it would depend on the types of crazy shenanigans I got myself into.

"All You Need is Love"

2008-11-11T00:00:00.003-05:00

Keith Olbermann comments on Prop 8 passing and just became my new favorite person. Amazing. He's articulated the issue exactly.

This video was at 2,718 views when I posted it. I'm curious what it'll be at in a week.

Do You ChaCha?

2008-11-10T22:36:00.007-05:00

My friend asked me if I knew what ChaCha was. Since I'm all about flexin' my street cred, I instantly said it was part of the female anatomy, as referenced by Missy Elliott. I was wrong (it's chocha, not chacha). Doing a complete 180 into Dorkdom I answered, "Isn't it a dance?" Nope. It's a (relatively) new mobile question and answer service. OK, well according to the second entry for the word in UrbanDictionary, I was at least half correct.

ChaCha launched in January 2008, but I haven't heard of anyone using it until just now. I guess everyone I know just uses Google on their phone. Unlike Google's text search, it seems that ChaCha's service is accompanied by ads. I actually don't know, only speculating, as I'm too scared of endless spam texts that I'll probably never use the service. But the website is full of information about mobile marketing.

When I worked in interactive marketing, I would always get vendors pitching the benefits of mobile marketing to me. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I still haven't bought into the concept. It seems viable for some industries, products, and services, but not for all. And I was never shown enough compelling consumer data showing a favorable acceptance (ok, tolerance) of text message spam. If anything, I think text messages are the one area where spam is simply unacceptable because, unlike email, text messages actually cost money.

It'll be interesting to see if ChaCha catches on or whether it simply fades away. I can't believe that people would chose this option over free search options that don't serve ads. I think the company's alleged advantage is that it provides better answers, but isn't the trend toward crowdsourcing and social networking to uncover answers to questions? And what on-the-go questions can't be answer by either a call to a friend or a Google search? Personally, the barrier to entry is too high. I don't want my number thrown into a pot where ~~evil~~ opportunistic marketers like me can overload it with branded messages.

So my answer to the question, "Do you ChaCha?", simply is: "No." I don't ChaCha, and if you haven't noticed based on my website and other blog entries, I don't want to have anything to do with chacha (or is it chocha?).

Really?

2008-11-06T23:48:00.002-05:00

So someone just sent me Rick Astley's video on YouTube (I have no idea why) and I noticed that it's been viewed 11 million times. I mean, really? How is that possible? Who's watching it? That's amazing. Does it make him a YouTube 'celebrity'?

This video is just a hot mess. Between the 'yacht club' outfits and obnoxious back-and-forth hand movements that are supposed to count as dancing, this video is pretty bad. Maybe that's why people keep watching it. It's an archived train wreck.

Take On Me

2008-11-06T23:36:00.001-05:00

I love Family Guy because Family Guy loves the 80's.

Finally! King of the Hill Cancelled

2008-11-01T19:09:00.003-04:00

It's about time. The animated cartoon about a blue-collar Texas family is finally being cancelled. I don't know how it lasted as long as it did. The show was so off-trend. The era of blue-collar, working-class families died in the '90s along with Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, and even the Drew Carey Show. That King of the Hill lasted beyond all of those shows is amazing. Apparently EVERYTHING from Texas is surprisingly long-lasting, even when it shouldn't have had a chance. [Please vote on November 4th!]

I think King of the Hill took so long to die because it got the great Sunday night spot right after The Simpsons. That slot's like an lazarus chamber for TV shows -- everything lives longer than it should. But now that King of the Hill has been relegated to the 7pm slot on Sunday, it doesn't have all the Simpsons viewers (particularly the lazy ones who don't change to another channel) to keep it alive.

I'm excited that American Dad has been renewed. It's a surprisingly good show (of course it would be, since it's Seth MacFarlane's show), and is actually on-topic. It's an animated show about a conservative American father who, in one episode, wants so badly to speak at the Republican National Convention that he pretends to be gay so he can speak for the Log Cabin Republicans. Ultimately, he realizes that being gay isn't a choice and instead of hating gays, welcomes them to the GOP because they chose to be Republican, which means more people to focus on hating Democrats. I digress.

Sunday night will be much better without King of the Hill. I'm happy to see it go.

"We Can Do It!"

2008-10-27T23:15:00.003-04:00

Sarah Palin's who-needs-to-be-qualified-to-be-Vice-President run for the White House has paved the way for other unqualified America-loving citizens to run for public office. Next up: Charles Barkley as Governor. The victim? The state of Alabama. Godspeed, Charles. Godspeed.

Crap-tini -- Hasbro's Newest Board Game

2008-10-26T21:57:00.006-04:00

I keep seeing (well, hearing in the background) this commercial for a new board game called Partini. All I can think of when I hear the name is a room full of over-the-hill marketers high-fiving each other after coming up with such an 'edgy' and 'modern' name for their old-school category. It's a pretty whack name. I mean, just look at the board -- even the cartoon people look like complete tools.

The game apparently consists of 6 games, each with their own little quirky names, the most painful of which is called "Straight Up". It's a game where you "write something true or funny about a teammate. Will you get points for telling it like it is?" Ouch. Board games shouldn't speak in slang.

I can't imagine someone turning to their group of friends and saying, "Let's play Partini!", without at least one of their friends giving them the stink-eye. It's just a lame name -- and "Straight Up" isn't helping the cause. Honestly, I'd rather suffocate myself with Cranium dough before I'd say "Let's play Partini!"

This is a good example of the importance of branding in the new product development process. This could be the best game ever, but it has such a lame name that people will be hesitant to play it, lest they risk being the recipient of finger-pointing and laughing. Although I could be entirely wrong and the brand name is spot on -- the target market for board games could, in fact, be yuppie tools who use half-decade-old slang. If that's the case, then bravo Habro. Bravo.

Cops Want Extra $$ to work on 9/11

2008-10-22T08:33:00.000-04:00

Talk about greed gone out of control. Are you kidding me?

Cops in Peabody, MA (where's that??) of all places want 9/11 off as a holiday or want to be paid extra for showing up to work on that day. What danger are these people in, anyway? I'm walking around giving out parking tickets is the same as a stroll through the streets of Fallujah. Oh wait, it's not. We're in a Depression, people. They should be happy to have a job.

Send them my way. I've got a whole stack of reality checks they can cash at their local WaMu.

Sarah Palin on SNL

2008-10-19T09:20:00.004-04:00

Since I was doing some work at home (yes, on a Saturday night), I decided to actually watch SNL (ok, out of one eye) since I haven't really seen the show 'live' for about 2 years. Mostly, I wanted to check out what they were going to do with Palin on the show. Honestly, she didn't really do much, "copping out" of two skits as part of the skit. But I think going on the show did her a lot of good -- good PR and it made her seem even more "common" and accessible.

I thought the Sarah Palin opening skit was pretty entertaining. Well, it was funny enough, especially by SNL standards. It still really annoys me that nobody on the show can really act and they just blatantly read off the cards.

As with most SNL skits, the portion of the Weekend Update containing Sarah Palin was awkwardly funny. I thought Amy Poehler did a great job. The fact that she did pregnant made it even funnier (is she really pregnant or did she just not change from the last skit? It's not really important enough for me to research).

It cracks me up that Palin is bobbing along and then throws her hands up toward the end. Again, it's awkward funny. She's definitely entertaining, and I think most people will come away liking her a little more for just seeming fun. The unfortunate thing is that someone's likability has little to do with their qualifications to be Vice President and most Americans don't understand that. You have fun drinking with the crazy chick who's dancing on the bar, you don't let her make any real decisions (or drive)! But all those "pro-American" states might think otherwise. Hopefully not, though.

Oh, and the rest of SNL pretty much just sucked from top to bottom, which is par for the course for SNL in general, sadly. It's like when they beat a joke to death, it's not humor, it's police brutality.

Which Party is Better for the Economy?

2008-10-17T08:38:00.000-04:00

A recent NY Times article had some really interesting charts on each political parties' impact on the growth of the economy. It tracks the growth of the S&P 500 during Republican and Democrat presidencies over the past 40 years and gives a ROI for each. I'm sure it's not completely scientific and there are other factors to include.

Have a look below. Net result: Having a Democrat in office is exponentially more beneficial for the economy than a Republican. Ironic.

Something to consider as you cast your vote in November. Nobody wants to be poor! Think about it.

I'm loving the 20-point spread between Clinton's 15.2% growth and George W.'s 5.1% decline. Recession much?