LINKS FROM October 2007
Google and Friends to Gang Up on Facebook
"An alliance of companies led by Google plans to roll out a common set of standards to allow developers to write programs for Google’s Orkut and other social networking Web sites."
Tags: google socialnetworking facebook api opensource
When Reality Feels Like Playing a Game, a New Era Has Begun
"We use game models to motivate ourselves, to answer questions, to find creative solutions. For many, life itself has turned into a game."
Tags: videogames psychology culture trend
Eye-Fi Adds Wi-Fi to Almost Any Digital Camera
"It's an SD memory card that adds Wi-Fi to any camera. Plus the free Eye-Fi service supports automatic uploads to 20 different web photo sites (like Flickr) as well as a computer on your home network."
Tags: technology camera wifi invention photography gadgets
"Can a fringe branch of mathematics forecast the future? A special adviser to the CIA, Fortune 500 companies, and the U.S. Department of Defense certainly thinks so."
Tags: gametheory bestarticlesof2007 innovation mathematics politics predictions economics
"But this level of sneering arrogance, at a time when a little humble appreciation of success is well in order, would go a long way. You're succeeding. Act like it."
"What Watts and Strogatz found was counterintuitive and profound: By injecting just a few random connections into a complex network, they could make that network both more efficient and more effective."
"Communications networks increase in value as they add membersâ€â€but by how much? The devil is in the details"
Tags: networks science communication
"I realized the magic of the information age is that it allows us to know less. It provides us with external cognitive servants."
Tags: brain trend memory technology
"Put your shotgun where you can reach it, instead of some out of the way place where it does you no good!"
"Dear AT&T: Whenever you send me a service-related text message that says something like "now U can make international calls from UR phone," I want to punch you in the face."
Tags: funny mobile marketing copywriting
"But unlike other networks, social networks lose value once they go beyond a certain size. “The value of a social network is defined not only by who's on it, but by who's excluded,� says Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley forecaster."
Tags: facebook technology networks
If the RIAA Wins, You Really Lose!
"There is no legal difference between putting a song in my P2P Network shared folder or in my public FTP folder or in my "documents" folder."
Oink founder: We're just like Google
"If Google directed someone to a site they can illegally download music they are doing the same as what I have been accused of. I am not making any Oink users break the law. People don’t pay to use the site.�
Tags: business copyright bittorrent music mp3 p2p
Steven Johnson breaks down which authors use the longest sentences.Combatants include: Malcolm Gladwell, Steven Pinker, Seth Godin, Christopher Hitchens, Michel Foucault and Frederic Jameson.
Tags: writing books language statistics visualization
Font Talk with White and Sajak
"Sure, she gives too much love to Arial, but at least she bats sans-serif. And it's clear she's a Mac nerd. Sajak, for his part, deflects nicely."
"I am pleased to agree that this redesign feels like a great step forward for BusinessWeek, and I'm almost certain that, when the next redesign happens, I will remember what it's previous incarnation felt and looked like."
Tags: magazines design inspiration
"This is my very basic set of shapes for making wireframes (low-fidelity web page schematics) in OmniGraffle (Mac OS X)."
Tags: design ui architecture templates
Is Investing in Facebook Worth it to Microsoft Just to Get International Remnant Inventory?
"So if you're Microsoft, and your search business isn't generating much European inventory or European advertiser interest for AdCenter, a deal like this gives you a much better story to tell."
Tags: microsoft business advertising facebook europe
Outsource to Qualified Freelancers or Firms, Web Designers, Programmers, Technical Writers - oDesk
Tags: business programming freelance
Service Advisories Email Alert
"Find out what’s going on with your ride before you swipe your MetroCard. Sign-up for weekly e-mail notifications about planned service changes on your line. "
Ahhh . . . the wonders of database humor.
Tags: cartoon geeks funny programming
RSS, Feed, and Weblog Crawler APIs . . . "Why write your own spider when you can just use ours?"
Very cool last.fm visualizations.
Tags: music visualization design data mashup
DEFENDING THE PIG - OINK CROAKS
"Oink didn’t offer solutions; it highlighted the problems of over-priced, over-controlled music elsewhere. Oink was an online paradise for music fans." - DJ Rupture
Tags: music business bittorrent copyright
Gmail Supported IMAP Client List
Whoa! Gmail added IMAP support for iPhone . . .
"A lot that you have heard here is about platforms and who is going to win. That is Paleolithic thinking. The Web has already won. The web is the Platform. So let’s go build the programmable Web."
No Shirts at Improv Everywhere
Improv Everywhere takes on Abercrombie & Fitch
Tags: funny video nyc fashion culture
"A host gathers people to make meaning together, setting the stage with a welcoming spirit, a few ground rules for safe speaking, and a juicy topic"
Tags: likemind conversation culture
Email organization, search, and navigation for your Outlook inbox
Tags: email productivity analytics metadata plugins
Stephen Colbert: I am running for president
"Stephen Colbert has announced his candidacy for president on "The Colbert Report," tossing his satirical hat into the ring of an already crowded race."
Enabling Innovation Through Office Design
"Work has become more mobile and team-based, but most organizations have been slow in changing their workplaces to reflect the new reality"
Tags: business design innovation
"That economic model is not quite over - there is clearly still money to be made selling CDs - but it is on its way out and from a strategic point of view bands choosing to go down that road close the door on a much larger, longer-term opportunity. "
Tags: music business economics
"We are supposed to be uplifted by these stories but they depress me. If it takes a hero to save an inner city school then there is no hope. Heroes are not replicable."
Tags: education teaching economics learning
"By using the calculator, you are able to convert between standard and strange units of measurement. Want to know how long ten blue whales are in fathoms? No problem!"
Tags: measurement tools
"Vimeo in glorious 1280x720 HD."
"If you have pre-ordered or intend to order the download version of Radiohead's new album In Rainbows and are curious to know what price others chose, take part in the survey."
Theory: The life of a buzzword
"A buzzword is no black swan, but when one breaks out of the long tail into the short head and hits the tipping point it still makes me question the wisdom of the crowds. But because the world is flat, I've listed a freakonomical list . . . "
"The Onion neither publishes nor accepts letters from its readers. It is The Onion's editorial policy that the readers should have no voice whatsoever and that The Onion newspaper shall be solely a one-way conduit of information."
Tags: funny newspapers
Craigslist Meets WallStreet...Classic
An economic look at marrying rich.
Tags: economics funny craigslist gender money
"Google begins the day with the assumption that people come to the Web, because they're looking for something. We begin the day with the assumption that people are looking for us."
Tags: google advertising local
Inside AdSense: Introducing video units
"Simply embed a snippet of code and have relevant YouTube partner content streamed to your site. You can choose categories of video to target to your site, select content from individual YouTube partners, or have video automatically targeted to your site
Tags: advertising adsense google youtube video
Here Comes the Money: YouTube Videos Coming to AdSense
"Google is set to make a major announcement tomorrow concerning YouTube integration with AdSense. Selected YouTube videos will be available to AdSense publishers and will appear wrapped in banner ads."
Tags: google advertising adsense youtube marketing
Twitter Prepping its Mobile Ad Units?
"AdSense for SMS, essentially. Imagine being able to add 15-25 extra characters onto every single post where someone mentions they are thirsty, or the word "sex" pops up."
Tags: twitter mobile advertising
"Microsoft owning a shell called Bungie with all the talent gone isn't a recipe for success (looked what happened when the Palm leadership asked to be spun off from 3Com and the events that followed)."
Tags: video microsoft business management
Four reasons why the RIAA won a jury verdict of $220,000
"The Recording Industry Association of American got a chance on Thursday to show everyone just how heavy and intimidating the legal club of copyright law can be."
How spam is teaching us about advertising
"How many of you aren’t more skeptical of all ad claims (and all media), because spam has taught you that there’s an element of spam in every unwanted (commercial) message?"
Tags: marketing spam advertising culture insight
Michel Gondry's latest movie stars Jack Black and Mos Def as video store clerks who recreate classic movies after accidentally erasing all the tapes.
Letting kids drink early reduces binging
"In this age of "just say no," some people believe it is time for Americans to reconsider how they teach kids about alcohol."
Tags: alcohol youth culture insight
the songs I sing to my son as reviewed by an anonymous music critic
"As the only cover in this artist’s portfolio, Wheels [on the bus] pays homage to the previous generation and all that their songs made possible."
Armchair Economists, Please Stay Home
"What, pray tell, are the "real products" that will support those industries? Very few bands can make a living off of touring and T-shirts. Oh, that's it, advertising. I bet Arrington listens to a lot of commercial radio..."
Tags: economics music business
Freeing the Dark Data of Failed Scientific Experiments
"So what happens to all the research that doesn't yield a dramatic outcome  or, worse, the opposite of what researchers had hoped? It ends up stuffed in some lab drawer."
Tags: data science research culture economics
Did "Saturday Night Live" Rip Off Aphex Twin?
"NBC didn't actually need permission to use the song for "ephemeral use," and won't, until they plan to air the show again . . . the video remains yanked from all official NBC sites until, presumably, some clearance agreement is made."
Tags: music business youtube internet law copyright
Everybody's a media company, chapter 3,672
"Staci Kramer at Paid Content notes that the NFL is in discussions to create an ad network across its 32 team sites. The league would sell some ads and the teams would keep some for themselves."
Tags: media2.0 advertising internet football sports
Mayor Bloomberg doubts Paris-style bike program will work in New York
"Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York expressed doubts over the weekend about bringing home a popular Parisian bike rental program . . . could be difficult to translate to the largest city in the United States."
My walking experience with the AIGA NY ALPHABET/CITY: A WALKING TOUR WITH TOBIAS FRERE-JONES
"Where do you begin when you’re one of only twenty three people that gets to walk around New York with Tobias Frere-Jones hearing about his observations on type and how it influenced the great typeface Gotham?"
Tags: nyc typography design
Compendium of idea generation methods
"Building on Martin Leith's original work, I would like this to be the most comprehensive collection of idea generation methods on the Internet."
Tags: brainstorming creativity tips
Radiohead's new album: pay what you want
"There’s no doubt that thousands of people will hand over the price of a Sherbet Dip for the download. Presumably though, Radiohead’s argument runs that those people would have obtained the album through file sharing websites."
Tags: music economics business insight