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You have arrived at the web home of Noah Brier. This is mostly an archive of over a decade of blogging and other writing. You can read more about me or get in touch. If you want more recent writing of mine, most of that is at my BrXnd marketing x AI newsletter and Why Is This Interesting?, a daily email for the intellectually omnivorous.

November, 2007

Almost Tuesday Randomness

So things haven't really slowed down lately. Between work and some exciting likemind stuff, I've been fairly lazy about keeping this thing updated (which is an effect of lack of quality input in the form of reading). With that said, I haven't been a complete waste lately, so at least here are some thoughts/links/randomness.

First off, more presentation action (and further fascination with SlideShare. This one is from a talk I gave on the bundling/unbundling of marketing agencies at ad:tech Chicago.

Now for some links/thoughts . . .

  • After reading this Technology Review article on the role of quants on Wall Street, I couldn't help but think maybe the marketing industry is in dire need of a quant revolution similar to the one the financial industry saw in the 1980s. I wonder if someone couldn't come along and blow up the industry with some really creative math. Mmmmmmm . . .
  • One of the coolest infographics I've seen in a long time.
  • I've started playing with Tumblr. No idea if I'll maintain it, but I've put up a site at heyitsnoah.tumblr.com. To be honest, it could end up being a lot like these random link posts . . .
  • Chris Anderson makes some good points in his blog post "Free is more complicated than you think". My favorite of them is that he plans to give versions of his new book away in order to "Give speeches, customizing my analysis and research for specific companies and industries. The free book is simply marketing for that, which can be more lucrative than book royalties." This is a perfect example of giving away the product and selling a service on top of it. I keep explaining the ROI of blogging this way: Sure I don't make any money directly off the blog, but the audience I have has enabled me to do things and make money in ways I never would have been able to without it.
  • I'm still thinking lots about weak ties and social networks. If anyone has any particularly good insights or links about network theory I'd love to hear them. Two recent reads (though not recent articles): Metcalfe's Law is Wrong and Network Theory's New Math.
  • I loved this Good Magazine article about a guy who predicts the future using game theory. It's awesome. Seriously, go read it.
  • My friend Justin is very funny. His latest gem: "If taglines were honest". A few of my favorites: "Ikea: One day you’ll be able to afford real furniture." and "PopTarts: Until you realize how disgusting they are, we’ll keep making them."
  • Eye-fi is an SD card with wi-fi. How cool is that? It's not even expensive at $99 for a 2gb card. Go buy one at Photojojo.

That's it for today. Thanks for listening.

November 6, 2007
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Noah Brier | Thanks for reading. | Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk.