Over the last two days I’ve read two things that have really wowed me. Both take things I’ve thought a lot about over the last six months and really push and articulate them far better than I have.
Open Creative Communities
When Piers and I started likemind we didn’t know what it would become. We never explained what it meant to be of ‘likemind’, yet 15 wonderful people showed up. Since then it’s blossomed and spread around the world.
Over the last six months I’ve thought a lot about why we’ve gotten such an amazing response. I have a few theories, but reading “what is an Open Creative Community?” by Mark Kuznicki opened my eyes in some new ways. He defines these communities by “interest, practice, proximity and values,” going on to explain:
These communities live in a hybrid virtual- and place-based geography. They are hyper-creative and produce some phenomenal artifacts of human ingenuity and culture. They are open, in that the barrier to entry is not a membership fee or a geographic line in the sand or a common ethnicity. The barrier to entry is creative citizenship, and you are either a citizen and a participant or you are not, based on your individual relationship to that community’s interests, practices, proximity and values.
After I read that I was hooked. Especially the last bit, “you are either a citizen and a participant or you are not.” The beauty of likemind is that showing up makes you both an active participant and citizen. In the online world, the 1% rule applies: 99% of your users will not be highly active participants. In open creative communities, the opposite is true. By their very design it’s impossible not to participate. In some ways a community like likemind both lowers and raises the barriers to entry by forcing people to self select.
Anyhow, before I go on forever about the article, go read it and tell me what you think.
Death of Zero Sum
Since I went a little long on the first half of this I’ll try to get to the point on this one.
About four months ago I wrote about the relationship between binary code and the rise of ambiguity. Basically what I was getting at is that we live in a much more blurry world and I have trouble understanding how the binary code that sits at the bottom of all digital technology allows for that.
Grant McCracken has brought these idea back to the surface for me with his piece on “Beauty and the death of zero sum”. In it he uses the Dove Real Beauty campaign (which you can read all about in the comments of my latest entry) to show how “in every domain of taste, we are seeing a willingness to expand the tools of judgment and the size of the winner’s circle.” (Just for reference, zero sum means “a participant’s gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participant(s).”)
Grant writes:
Zero sum is dying in our culture. The notion that there is one single hierarchy of any kind is now in question. . . . The death of zero sum is especially evident on the internet where it turns out crowds matter more than elites. The new media emerge and they create a multiplication of value, a new superfluidity of admiration. This may be because people are prepared to “pay themselves” in admiration they do not deserve…but if it works, it works. There is nothing in the anthropological rule book that says that a culture may not make every individual an arbiter of his or her own value.
The internet and digital technology are driving a lot of these changes, but they are slowly seeping into the rest of culture. The web has redefined choice, offering us millions of results for each google search. The fascinating thing about those results, however, is that it’s often not the first that you find most useful. Rather, it’s some combination of many that gives you a final conclusion.
It was only a matter of time until that thinking began to invade the other parts of life.
Alright, it’s Monday morning and I’m not sure what to talk about (but have to get that birthday entry off the front page). I figured some links were in order.
First and foremost, however, is some exciting news for me. As of yesterday evening, if you search for ‘noah’ in Google I am the final result on the homepage. I’ve taken a screenshot to prove it in case it doesn’t last. Ever since the other noah made it I’ve been jealous of his noahness, but now I share a piece of the glory.
On President’s Day I was hanging out with somefriends (the other’s don’t have blogs . . . yet) and we were discussing how funny a set of greeting cards that corrected stereotypes would be. This isn’t quite it, but McSweeney’s Mildly Disturbing Greeting-Card Messages is worth a read.
Excercise equipment maker Life Fitness announced iPod integration on their new equipment. It’s getting kind of scary how everything has an iPod plug at this point. I can’t remember where I read it but some absurd amount of cars created today come with one (though it may just been an 1/8″ headphone plug . . . which is fine). Have we already hit a point where we can’t turn back from the iPod? Is there a business opportunity for Apple to sell it’s adapter to other companies to use with their products (including MP3 players). I bet that would be worth a boatload of cash.
And that wraps it up . . . Have a great Monday and thanks to everyone who contributed to my birthday book, came out to party, sent me stuff in the mail and just said hello, I can’t thank you all enough for making me feel special.
This is little more than comment bait, but screw it, it’s my blog and I’ll do with it what I wish.
First things first, credit for the title goes to swissmiss who apparently go it from bb. Secondly, hope many of you are planning on making the party in NYC Friday night (and don’t forget to bring the 8.5 x 11).
Thirdly, this delicious looking treat came from Bubo in Barclona.
Lastly, I wish you all as wonderful a year as my last one has been. As always, if I can do anything to help make it better, please let me know.
I don’t mean to be a JetBlue whore, but it’s time to talk about them again. Looks like my last post about them preceded a hurricane (or blizzard) of negativepress.
Clearly passengers were right in their anger towards the company, especially those that were stuck on the runway in the plane for like eight hours. But the sign of a strong company (and person) is how the bounce back from adversity.
I think JetBlue’s Customer Bill of Rights and CEO David Neeleman’s apology are a step in the right direction.
What really amazes me about the video is the sincerity. Everyone says you need to be passionate about your customers and your business, but few people live it. You can tell when someone really cares: You can see it in their eyes. When I watch that video what I see is a man who is deeply disturbed by what happened and is making every effort to ensure that it’s never repeated. Maybe it’s an act, but if that’s the case I’d be pretty damn impressed. As James Hong put it:
[Customer Service is a good sign] of a good company. not just because it makes customers happy, but because it shows a company CARES about their customers. They understand who they are building for, and i’m sure sensitivity to customer’s feelings extends down to the engineers building the product. Often times, the things that make a product great are very low level details that arise as a result of the engineer giving a damn.
Neeleman is committed to making the changes necessary and that’s an honorable thing. It also is a good thing for business, as these were most likely changes that would eventually have needed to be made anyway.
Which plays nicely into one of the themes that’s been floating around in my head lately: Everyone says as a company you have to always be on your toes and evolving, but that’s easier said than done. How do you create a culture that’s not afraid to cannibalize itself?
Every system needs a disaster of sorts in order to regenerate life. Forest fires can actually be good for the environment. The problem is it’s easier said than done. Most companies get comfortable in a field or offering a specific set of services and don’t constantly strive to redefine themselves. For some reason the first thing that comes to mind is high-school dramas: Every one thinks it’s going to succeed when the kids go to college but none ever do. That’s because the same formula no longer applies, but they continue to try and shove it in there.
Sometimes you’ve just got to rethink your business from the ground up. James Hong from HOTorNOT (sorry to quote him again) wrote a great piece about staying hungry. After making a lot of money with HOTorNOT he is looking to completely revamp it. He’s changed the corporate structure, take a serious paycut (down to $24 a year) and set up a stock option program to keep employees hungry. All of this is new, so there’s no way to say how it’ll turn out, but you have to respect him for trying (especially with the cash cow that is HOTorNOT)
I guess the bottom line in all of this is that if you don’t cannibalize your business, someone else will.
There’s a new eatery in Chelsea called Swich. It’s a pressed sandwich shop with an eye, and mind, towards design. From the logo to the televisions running SWICH TV, the place feels different (and the sandwiches taste delicious).
But this isn’t about that, really. Instead it’s about a sticker I found stuck on the wrapper of my sandwich when I ate there, which Michael was kind enough to photograph.
Have any friends/relatives who run a farm? We’d love to talk to them. We’re always looking for the freshest local ingredients. Email us their contact info at SwichPressed.com
How fantastic is that? Here’s a business trying to network the same way everyone else is: By putting themselves out there and declaring their interest. A few months ago I wrote about the importance of learning to be proactive in meeting people, if you want to talk to or meet other interesting people you need to let them and others know your desires. If you don’t your stuck sitting at home twiddling your thumbs waiting for them to trip over you.
Swich is employing the exact same logic and I think it’s great. I’m sure lots of businesses would love to meet others in their field who could offer them services. The thing is, they never signal that interest. I’m not entirely sure, but I imagine they’d worry about ‘looking weak.’ But that’s ridiculous, wanting to meet new people is not a weakness, it’s a strength. It’s an understanding that you can’t do it all alone and that there are others out there who can assist you in reaching your goals. Plus, at least to me, it signals an openness and interest in understanding more than just your own world. All the kinds of attributes I’d love the companies I do business with to possess.
Plus, by putting something like that sticker into the world it opens Swich up to all sorts of wonderful and serendipitous moments. Just the other day I was talking to Michael about my love for that sticker and he said he met someone who owned an organic cookie business and suggested they write Swich a note and see if there are opportunities. How cool is that? What are the odds that would ever happen with another company?
I think there are all sorts of opportunities with this kind of thinking. Obvious ones like recruiting could be made so much easier by utilizing your customers as connecters. Most companies say “we have openings, apply within,” but what about asking people if they know anyone who might be interested? Sure it’s a small change in wording, but it could make all the difference in the world. Then there’s innovation: By signaling to your customers your desire to meet related people/companies you open yourself up to worlds you may not even know about. Sure Swich asked for farmers, but if I ever heard about a revolutionary new sandwich press I would be sure to suggest they chat.
There’s got to be tons more possibilities for this, but I’m tired, so I’ll leave it to you guys.
Update (2/20/07):This quote from Desmond Tutu about the meaning of Ubuntu seemed quite appropriate to add: “My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up in yours. We belong in a bundle of life. I am a human because I belong. A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good; for he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are.” Obviously this is much larger, but the basic idea that we are open, available and not threatened by others sums up everything I was trying to say.
My JetBlue flight was supposed to leave Oakland airport at 1:15. It didn’t. Didn’t leave at 2:15 or 3:15 either. When I finally took my seat at 4:30 all I could think about was how well JetBlue handled the situation (rather than how long I had been sitting on an airport carpet).
The things JetBlue and the staff did are a case study in how to make a customer feel special. In today’s market it’s no longer good enough to service your customer, you’ve got to go further. Here’s how they did it:
Pilot comes out, apologizes to everyone and explains the situation. He then moves out from behind the counter and starts answering questions. When someone asked him about how much it would cost to switch his tickets he answered with personality, “you’ll need to ask those folks at the desk, they just pay me to fly the plane.” When someone asked him if he thought they would leave soon he gave an honest answer rather than trying to cover himself. He said he really believed that they would clear the tarmac at JFK in the next few hours and we would be able to depart. He could have said nothing, but he chose not to.
They offer free flight changes for anyone who wants it. Again, the flight only left three hours late and this was something they didn’t have to do. Being given the choice made me feel more at ease about waiting to see what happened.
Next they set up a table full of water, soda and JetBlue snacks. Again, this is not something they have to do, there are plenty of places to buy food in the terminal (who must be fairly annoyed about this tactic). Doing this makes people feel like JetBlue really cares and them and their comfort. When every other airline is cutting corners anywhere they can this feels almost luxurious.
When we got on the place the flight attendant sounded genuinely excited to say we were ready to depart. She then proceeded to thank us for being so patient. Again, lots of people do this, but how often does it feel genuine?
As an apology for leaving so late (something they had nothing to do with — JFK closed the runway for all traffic), the pay movies which are normally around $5 were free and the first round of alcoholic drinks were on the company.
All of this left me feeling like I was riding with a company that truly cared for its customer. Recently I had a long conversation with Ori and Tad and one of the things we talked a lot about was how you get evangelists to talk about your product. One of the conclusions we came to is that you make them feel special. Something as simple as a hand-written note or a phone call can be all the payment an evangelist needs. With a well-trained crew, JetBlue was able to recreate that special feeling of personal recognition. It’s pretty impressive stuff and something more companies need to strive for.
Before I finish, this whole thing reminds me of a story Drew told me about being on a plane with the CEO of JetBlue (as a sidenote, I think JetBlue’s behavior is exactly the kind of Marketing for Good that Drew writes about at his blog). Anyway, during Drew’s flight the CEO came on the loudspeaker and welcomed everyone. He then proceeded to walk down the cabin and speak to every person in the airplane. Drew was on his way to ski somewhere (as I remember the story) and told the CEO (whose name I can’t remember) that the last time he was there he broke his leg. On his way off the plane the CEO was waiting to say goodbye to each person. When Drew walked by not only did he remember his name, but told him to be a little more careful this time.
Clearly his attention to detail and the customer experience has trickled down.
About to board a fairly delayed flight from Oakland to New York. I figured I’d put up a real quick post reminding everyone that this Friday, February 16th is likemind.
It’s been amazing to watch this thing grow and we’re now in 14 cities and counting around the world. In addition, Anomaly has been kind enough to help pay for some of the coffee. It’s all pretty amazing. We’ve got a couple of other big ideas to keep our momentum.
In addition my friend, former co-worker and brilliant designer Michael Surtees was kind enough to help us redo our wordmark and create some additional materials that you’ll see if you show up for this round. Here’s Michael’s handy work:
So, if you live in one of the following cities, come out and support. You can get all the info at likemind.us
I may or may not have invented a new kind of blogging today. I had a few hours around Palo Alto to burn so I started walking. About 20 minutes in, I decided to take pictures and post my thoughts as I moved along. When all was said and done I was left with 14 photos/thoughts from my two hour walk (make sure you read the stuff that goes along with the pictures). I’m thinking about calling it wogging and will definitely be doing it more often (maybe even tomorrow in San Francisco).
As might be expected, the other Noah did a great job with Community Next. It was a nice combination of down-to-earth lessons from people who run communities and some higher level thinking about what a community is/needs. The Threadless guys did a great presentation (good writeup over at Wired) and there were a few other interesting tidbits throughout the day (be passionate about your community, hire your best users, realize your community outnumbers you by a huge percentage). If there’s any interest I can write more about what I heard/thought about, but most of the time I find conference notes on blogs incredibly tedious and boring.
Observation of the Day: Men’s room lines are really long at tech conferences.
likemind is coming up this Friday, February 16th. For those playing along at home we’re in 13 cities around the world this month and counting: NY, SF, Seattle, Oslo, Boston, LA, Dallas, London, Minneapolis, Malmo (Sweden), Ancona (Italy), Orlando and Jakarta. Also, my good friend Michael Surtees was kind enough to help us with a new logo and some additional goodies that will be debuted this round. (You’ll have to be there to see it all . . . )
Last, but not least, I’m starting to think a redesign for this site is in order. I really love this iteration, but there’s a number of features (most important of which is community) that I’d like to add. I just want to throw this out there and request that if you have any thoughts or ideas, likes or dislikes, please throw them in the comments or email them to me.)
I think that’s it for now. Have a great week and if you’re around SF and want to meet up, let me know.
For those not familiar with Naked they’re a new breed of agency built out of the need for truly neutral communications solutions. In order to achieve their Switzerland-like status (how many people have made that comparison? . . . arghh) they (or we actually) employ no production or execution people.
To see the future of the advertising industry, climb the stairs of the three-story walk-up on Greene Street in SoHo to the U.S. headquarters of London’s Naked Communications. There, you’ll find 15 or so young people — a Scot, a South African, a Brit and some Americans — sitting around a long, wooden table, working on laptops or talking quietly on cellphones as rock music plays in the background. . . . Naked’s premise is simple: If you go to a coal company looking for an energy supply, you’ll get coal as the recommended solution. It’s the same with most advertising agencies, which rarely meet a marketing problem that cannot be solved or a sales goal that cannot be met by a TV and radio campaign supported by direct marketing, some pop-up ads on Web sites and a bit of public relations. It’s what they do, the way they are organized and how they make their money.
In 2003, Boots had run a TV campaign for a new service that collects prescriptions directly from doctors so customers don’t have to wait for them to get filled, but it had gotten little response. Naked’s strategists realized that Boots wasn’t doing anything in its pharmacies to encourage customers to get their doctors to use the program. In effect, Boots was ignoring the 16 million customers who were already walking through its stores every week. Under Naked’s guidance, Boots discontinued its TV spots and had employees suggest the service to customers waiting in line for prescriptions. According to Chris Laud, Boots’ media manager, the number of participants in the program has skyrocketed several hundred percent at a fraction of the cost of the TV campaign. “It’s more of a process problem they helped us identify,” he says.
Anyway, as you can probably tell, I’m stoked to get there. For those that have made it this far I’m taking the next couple days off and will be in SF until Wednesday (for Community Next and then just hanging), so if you’re around drop me a line.
Finally, a huge thank you to Johanna, for whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude for getting this ball rolling.
What happens when you have to call 911 from your iPhone?
Lots of people have talked about the lack of buttons and the effect that may have on user behavior, but I haven’t heard anyone ask this question. You can’t dial by touch, which means if you need to do something like call 911 from your pocket it will be impossible.
Right now the Nintendo Wii seems like the perfect case study in approaching a problem from a different angle. With everyone else spending their time trying to figure out how to pack more power than a Ferrari into a little box, Nintendo decided to take a different approach and it seems to be paying off.
What they did is spend a lot of time looking at the video game market, something they once lead by 20 lengths, and reassessed it. They examined the market and realized that hardcore gamers were driving the choices of its biggest competitors (Microsoft and Sony). They were the ones demanding more power and life-like games.
According to Time Magazine amongst the questions the Nintendo folks asked themselves is “Why do people who don’t play video games not play them?” The article continues:
[Nintendo president] Iwata has been asking himself, and his employees, that question for the past five years. And what Iwata has noticed is something that most gamers have long ago forgotten: to nongamers, video games are really hard. Like hard as in homework. The standard video-game controller is a kind of Siamese-twin affair, two joysticks fused together and studded with buttons, two triggers and a four-way toggle switch called a d-pad. In a game like Halo, players have to manipulate both joysticks simultaneously while working both triggers and pounding half a dozen buttons at the same time. The learning curve is steep.
So they did the obvious: They rebuilt the controller from the ground up. No one had actually considered that up to this point, all the biases of the industry had prevented them from seeing a seemingly simple alternative. Instead of one of those confusing controllers with 62 buttons, they built a simple one that looks just like the remote control you know and love. The catch on this special controller is the built-in motion sensor, after all, what could be easier than swinging your arm around to control a game?
Shifting gears for one quick second, one of my favorite marketing stories is probably not true, but it goes something like this: P.T. Barnum or another equally mythic figure bought a tuna fish company. At the time, every other tuna brand on the market had grey tuna. There was nothing wrong with it, that was just the color it was for whatever reason. Needing to find a way to compete [insert mythic figure here] decided to change the conversation and came up with the slogan “never goes grey.” All of a sudden the world everyone once knew had been flipped on its head. Disregarding any ethical issues for a second, the point I walk away with is sometimes you just need to change the conversation.
That’s what they did. They changed the conversation and in doing so created one of the most amazing gaming systems I’ve ever experienced. I have played a fair amount of Wii in the last two weeks and the magic of it doesn’t seem to go away. It’s a system made for social play, it makes people smile. It inspires people to create ads for free.
I tried to start writing something this morning more substantial this morning and couldn’t. Last night’s Bears loss was completely deflating.
I do want to get something accomplished today, though, so I thought a link post was in order.
Some guy wrote a book saying bloggers are a lonely bunch. From my experience this couldn’t be farther from the truth. As I wrote in the comments of CK’s post: “Most of the bloggers I know personally are far more social than the non-bloggers. Part of why they do this is to make connections and meet new people.” For some more insightful commentary on the topic check out what Ryan Anderson has to say. (As a side not I have met both CK and Ryan in person and count them as friends.)
Indexed is one of my new favorite blogs. I won’t even try to explain it, just go there.
People love to point to porn as the biggest driver of technological change. With Sony not allowing porn on Blu-ray discs people are wondering whether it’s going to give HD DVD the big advantage. Max smartly focuses the attention on the real issue: The future of video is digital delivery, not physical media. Most telling quote: “Vivid Entertainment, which is a very large content provider in the adult entertainment space, at this point in time, 40 percent of their business is on DVD discs, and that’s down from 80 percent five years before that. Most of their business seems to be shifting to cable and satellite TV, Internet and wireless applications.” Amazing.
Speaking of Max, his company, BuzzMetrics is looking for a web marketing manager in NYC. Max is one of the best minds in the marketing industry (in my humble opinion) and anyone would be lucky to work with him and learn from him (I know I have). BuzzMetrics is a great company doing some very cool work. If you’re interested all the info for applying is on their career page or if you’d rather, drop me a line and I’ll pass your info onto Max directly.
I try to read everything Terry Heaton writes. I think he might just be the smartest media thinker out there. His latest essay is no exception: The Local Web.
Slightly late, but last week Da Bears Blog got a nice article in the Chicago Tribune. My quote: “I personally don’t like the way blogs look in general, I prefer to start from scratch and control everything.”
Speaking of Thrillist, they’re looking for a tech person (basic web programming, page design, maintenance stuff I believe) in NYC to come on and help them grow their business. If you’re interested, drop me a line and I’ll pass on your info. They’re very cool guys and they’ve got a great product.
That’s it. Time to return to reality. Only seven months until football season starts again.
So, my birthday is coming up (February 22nd) and like every year, I’m having a party.
Here’s all the info:
Date: February 23, 2007 (1 day after my real birthday)
Location: Antarctica Bar
Address: 287 Hudson Street (at Spring)
Time: 9pm – Whenever
Deal: $20 open bar from 10pm – 12am (you don’t have to do this, so don’t sweat it)
As usual this is a more the merrier party, so bring your friends, and have them bring their friends.
One request, though. For this year’s birthday I had this idea that in lieu of presents I’d ask everyone to draw/write/paint/whatever on a piece of paper which I could then turn into a birthday book.
So, here are the additional birthday instructions.
1. Take a 8.5� by 11� peice of paper.
2. Draw/write/paint or whatever else you want to do with it.
3a. Scan it and send it to nb AT noahbrier DOT com
3b. Bring it with you to my party.
3c. If neither is an option email me and I’ll give you my mailing address.
4. Have some drinks and enjoy the evening.
Even if you can’t make it, I’d love for you to contribute . . .
There will be more reminders, but mark your calendars now.
So, my birthday is coming up (February 22nd) and like every year, I’m having a party.
Here’s all the info:
Date: February 23, 2007 (1 day after my real birthday)
Location: Antarctica Bar
Address: 287 Hudson Street (at Spring)
Time: 9pm – Whenever
Deal: $20 open bar from 10pm – 12am (you don’t have to do this, so don’t sweat it)
As usual this is a more the merrier party, so bring your friends, and have them bring their friends.
One request, though. For this year’s birthday I had this idea that in lieu of presents I’d ask everyone to draw/write/paint/whatever on a piece of paper which I could then turn into a birthday book.
So, here are the additional birthday instructions.
1. Take a 8.5� by 11� peice of paper.
2. Draw/write/paint or whatever else you want to do with it.
3a. Scan it and send it to nb AT noahbrier DOT com
3b. Bring it with you to my party.
3c. If neither is an option email me and I’ll give you my mailing address.
4. Have some drinks and enjoy the evening.
Even if you can’t make it, I’d love for you to contribute . . .
There will be more reminders, but mark your calendars now.
Hi, I'm Noah. I am the co-founder of Percolate. I like writing on, thinking about and making stuff for the internet. I'm responsible for a few internet experiments like Brand Tags, likemind and My First Tweet. On this site I write about media, marketing, culture, technology and randomness. I like it when people email me.
Subscribe to NoahBrier.com by RSS or by email (in once-a-day digest form).
The drip denotes a curated post from Percolate. The comment is mine, the content on the other end of the link is not.
Q: What is this site all about?
A: I think Michael Bierut explained it nicely a few years ago in response to people asking him why he didn't write more about design on Design Observer: "But the great thing about graphic design is that it is almost always about something else. Corporate law. Professional football. Art. Politics. Robert Wilson. And if I can't get excited about whatever that something else is, I really have trouble doing good work as a designer. To me, the conclusion is inescapable: the more things you're interested in, the better your work will be." Replace "graphic design" with "media/marketing/technology" (or whatever you'd like to call my field) and you've got my deal.
Q: Where else do you live?
A: Good question. All over the place as a matter of fact. On Tumblr for more randomness, Twitter for short bursts, Dopplr for places I'm going, Delicious for things I'm reading, last.fm for music I'm listening to, Flickr for photos I'm taking and Facebook because I don't really have a choice. (Oh, and Amazon for stuff I want people to buy me.)
Q: I meant that literally. Where do you live?
A: Oh, sorry, Brooklyn, New York is where I call home at the moment.
Q: Any other side projects you'd like to tell us about?
A: As a matter of fact, yes. There's How Much Does it Buy?, a calculator for the rest of us. Holy Crap! Facts (and accompanying Twitter feed) which is pretty much exactly what you'd expect. Da' Bears Blog is, in my opinion, the best Chicago Bears blog on the web (I don't write it, I just helped it get off the ground) and Tweemail is a little PHP script I wrote for getting Twitter updates by email. I'm also always working on a few other things and will let you know when they're ready for public consumption.
Q: Um okay.
A: Yeah, that's a fake question mostly so I can throw in this one other quote I like that I think sums up some of what I try to do here. This one comes from Albert Einstein (or at least the internet says so) and goes something like, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Words to live by.
Hi, I'm 
