March 2012
10 tags
Tweets Mean Nothing Without Action
Computers and Twitter have created “slacktivism.”. If you’re watching a screen, you’re probably not making revolution.We’re glued to our seats slothfully voicing our opinion on Twitter and Facebook without actually doing the work.
It’s one of the biggest ironies of our time, that the Internet has inspired opinion but so few are actually doing anything about...
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The Shortened
We shorten everything now as consumers of fast paced Internet content digestion.
Write shorter blog posts to get to the point.
Write 50 page manifestos instead of long winded 200 page books.
Read the weekly summary blurbs in the beginning of The Economist and ignore the detailed reporting.
Tell the world an observation or a joke in less than 140 characters and shorten the links in the that...
12 tags
Minimal Furniture In The Smart Age
Technology convergence into iPhones and iPads is not only eliminating products like the camera and TV but is also affecting furniture design.
In short,
the physical world is disappearing.
My home work desk is cleaner than ever. The same goes for the whole apartment. We don’t have clocks, a landline phone, nor CD shelves any more. All we have are our gadgets and a bunch of bad looking...
10 tags
Pottermore Power
JK Rowling just ripped digital book services a new one, selling her Harry Potter books directly from her website.
The books appear on Amazon and Barnes and Noble but literally only for display and convenience to the customer. The book can only be purchased at the Pottermore store and made compatible for all eReading devices.
This deal would never happen in brick and mortar stores, simply...
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The Benefits of Timeline
There’s been loads of startups building around the timeline concept this year.
But I’ve seen few people actually engage with it. For one, going back in the past and uploading archival
content on Facebook’s Timeline takes time and research. Even going forward people may be hesitant about filling in particular moments as milestones.
For the most part, all we have to do is...
9 tags
Reward Psychology
On the human addiction for digital rewards:
Today, technology companies are creating new habits by running users through a series of desire engines—and variable rewards fuel the chain reaction. Companies like Kiip, Zynga, and American Express drop pellets. Every time we use their services we get something back like points and even discounts.
A like, comment, or a badge on Foursquare create...
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Some People Still Have Smartphone Myopia
I’ll never understand why some people resist Smartphone technology, claiming the constant connectedness is a waste of time.
It really just depends on use.
If you use the phone primarily for games and social communication then it’s likely you’ll squander 30 minutes of productivity.
But if you treat the phone as a learning and inspirational tool your perspective changes...
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Reexamining the Core Product
I’ve been seeing it more and more lately.
Companies are selling other experiences to deepen the customer relationship with the core product.
Three companies excel at this halo effect:
Apple. Sell iPhones and iPads through the large selection of apps, music, and movies in the iTunes store.
Rovio. Sell more Angry Birds downloads through toys and merchandize.
50 Cent. Sell music...
13 tags
The Google Paradox
I’ve been hearing more than ever about the Google paradox and its mediocre products.
Google’s hunger for personal information contradicts its “Don’t Be Evil” policy. Google+ is a ploy to get our bio data and manipulate search results.
I don’t buy that giving Google more information about me will surround me with ads promoting products I want. I may click...
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Twitter is Indispensable
just setting up my twttr
— Jack Dorsey (@jack) March 21, 2006 November 22, 2007. That was the date I signed up to Twitter. I really didn’t know what I was getting into at the time. No one really did and Smartphones had just hit the market. I’d still love to go back and storify my first 100 Tweets timeline style.
In the beginning Twitter just became another distributor of my...
6 tags
Reaction To Fred Wilson's Post on Blogging
Fred Wilson is a strong writer mostly because he’s concise and talks about stuff you’d only see on expert based network Quora.
I started reading Fred’s blog a few years ago when he was publishing a couple times a day. During that time he even became a respected Indie music aficianado. But now he’s too big to respond to emails, blog comments, and even post his end of...
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FIFA Should Copy the NFL
FIFA just announced today that it’ll create a YouTube channel dedicated to 2010 South Africa highlights and user generated content to help it prepare for the 2014 Cup in Brazil.
Besides the obvious criticism that Seth Blatter is slow to make the world’s biggest game truly social, he should also take marketing cues from the NFL.
The NFL has the best marketing of any sport. It has...
7 tags
The Introvert
On the misunderstood Introvert:
My own formula is roughly two hours alone for every hour of socializing. This isn’t antisocial. It isn’t a sign of depression. It does not call for medication. For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating. Our motto: “I’m okay, you’re okay—in small doses.”
Don’t...
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Creativity With A Lowercase "c"
Creativity can be learned and unlearned for that matter:…most children display highly creative thinking before going to school but gradually lose this creativity as they progress through schooling. You can imagine pretty much the same kind of process going on as initially young, enthusiastic recruits proceed up the corporate ladder.Rote practice and standardization sucks our creativity. ...
12 tags
People Love New Platform Updates (Like Pinterest)
People love the new Pinterest profile pages but will continually rip apart Facebook’s design and functionality updates.
Part of being a new emerging platform is simplicity. Sign up to profile creation to execution and sharing is intuitive. So the goal when scaling so fast is to maintain that minimalist design without getting pushback from your original members.
Instagram and the Day...
4 tags
iCloud Is Still Crappy
I finally took the time this weekend to clean up the photos on my two iPhones, one business one personal.
My plan was to consolidate all photos into albums on my iPad and have those albums synced across devices. But I discovered that you can’t synch albums in one photo stream yet. Apple still has us tethered to the Camera Roll on each device. So I took another route.
For the past 3...
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Marley - Bob Marley Documentary
Kevin MacDonald cleared all the rights to Marley’s music and image. That’s an Academy Award all in itself.
Read the entire story at Shook.fm.
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Turning Off Highlight For The St. Patrick's Day...
Last week it was the grand old party at SXSW. This weekend is all about the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York.
One thing I learned from SXWS is that ambient networking is premature. The Highlight app kills the battery, is delayed so naturally you miss the opportunity to introduce yourself, and connects me to others that like Dunkin Donuts.
I should be able to create private lists...
4 tags
Beat Attic - Spectrum
The $500 track. #nojoke
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History of Drum N Bass
Drum N Bass, Bristol early 90s:
For a lot of people, it just did what rave did even better.
Floaty, kind of light little rolling music right across to hard edge, rough, jungle.
Slow swing…and fast riddim.
We bring it together (hip-hop, soul, jazz) into breakbeat.
Untitled from Eduardo Sanchez on Vimeo.
Bristol laid the foundation for what’s the best genre of music in the...
7 tags
iPad (NY, NY)
Source: instagr.am via Wells on Pinterest
I’ve been reading tweets and articles on the new iPad all week. The conclusion seems to be that the retina screen is unreal but requires a longer charge time and heavier battery.
Every time a new Apple product comes out the naysayers look for cheap shots. And the consumer just turns a deaf ear.
The iPad is the one and only true tablet on...
9 tags
Making Email Fun Again With Sparrow
Add Sparrow to the list of apps I’ll use more than Apple’s native email app.
Sparrow should be the default Gmail app. It’s well designed and plays nice with social networks like Facebook to bring in profile images.
It also gives the email body space to read and and organizes email threads in minimal singularity.
Said the designer: Our main goal was using our new app to...
5 tags
Nike+ Fuel Band
I spent all yesterday with the Nike Fuel band.
I walked 8 miles, scored 4k+ Fuel points and recorded thousands of steps. My graph looked like a field goal, peaking at the walk to work in the morning and the walk back home at night.
But now I’m ready for more cool features. I want to able to check into places with a push on the band. I want apps and I want music. And I don’t...
8 tags
Tweeterous
I set up a Posterous account last week just to compare it to the ins and outs of Tumblr.
It wasn’t as intuitive or sleek as Tumblr, certainly not something I’d want to revisit every day. It really felt like an inferior blogging product.
While it doesn’t make sense to blog on Posterous it makes complete sense for Twitter to buy it out.
Posterous owns the knowledge on...
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SXSW Highlights (In Pins)
My trip is over but the learnings and memories will live on.
I’ve posted some of the highlights on my SXSW Pinterest board here.
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"First User!"
Those were the words I overheard a second ago at a coffee shop in Austin for SXSW.
It was an amazing sound that gave me goosebumps so I had to turn around an hear the story.
The Android app Spott was just launched by two Mexican and two Dutch developers. The idea bloomed on a 72 hour bus ride from Mexico in which there was no wi-fi. Nada.
One of the guys demonstrated the app. Raw in...
14 tags
SXWS: Sexy Football Data With Manchester City's...
I woke up early this morning to attend a football (soccer) panel presented by Richard Ayers. Richard is the chief digital innovator at Manchester City.
The most surprising part about Richard is that he’s not even a football fan. He’s a data artist and marketer that transforms numbers into captivating customer displays.
Now that Man City is winning trophies, the world’s...
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SXSW 2012
I’m at SXSW in Austin today. I’ve been wanting to attend this conference for years.
I’ll be actively tweeting via @bombtune throughout if my two iPhones survive.
Who’s whom I hope to meet:
Semil Shah (Votizen, VC)
Sahil Lavingia (Gumroad)
Ben Parr (Former Mashable Editor)
Tim Ferriss (Author/VC)
Kevin Systrom (Instagram)
Let’s go!
Source: sxsw.com via Kristin...
7 tags
Indonesia's Mobile Boom & No Square?
On Indonesia’s social boom:
Indonesia is not really search-savvy, not really accustomed to using Google to search for things…it’s very important that they can…make it a conversation.
Indonesia never even saw Web 1.0. All it knows is two-way conversation through social networks using mobile phones.
Indonesia is already in a post PC era and using social as a currency for...
6 tags
We're All Designers
Sahil Lavingia, the kid that built Pinterest and now Gumroad:
I agree, we all need designers. But I’d argue that we already have them. They’re us: you and me.
I don’t design, professionally. I do draw, make mockups, and build mind maps though. I know exactly how I want everything to look and to connect to create the best possible user experience.
Communication is key for me.
3 tags
Joey BADA$$ x Capital STEEZ - "Survival Tactics" &...
A 16 year old Brooklyn native puts true hip-hop back on the map. Don’t forget to download “Waves” after the jump.
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Thrupence - Voyages EP
One of those albums that makes it difficult to feature one track so listen to the whole thing, right here.
It’s even worth it for the artwork. Peep “Parlay” for hip-hop heads.
Special thanks to Strictly Beats for the dig.
7 tags
iPad 3 To Dent PC Sales Forever?
The PC is making all kinds of tweaks to hold off the tablet boom like turning the screen and keyboards around 360.
The slight innovations remind me of a dying CD and DVD industry that’s still trying to stay alive with bundles, extra features, and supplemental flash drives.
Tablets are taking over. They’re half of the price of a PC, incredibly powerful, and amazing on the go reading...
8 tags
How I Became My Own Little Apple Store With Square
Square Register from Square on Vimeo.
It was 6 months ago today when I billed my first client using the Square app for $250.
My client told me his digits and pin code on the phone and I billed him on my iPhone at the same time. Had he been present I would’ve just slid his card through the Square plugin.
He received his receipt 2 seconds after the payment. Boom.
While I...
8 tags
New Mass Advertising: My Twitter Stream Made Me...
Mass marketing was probably the worst way to reach me the last few years. I stopped watching television, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers and magazines. Even the Super Bowl was hard to watch. The only way to reach me was through my RSS feed and social channels.
But now mass marketing may be the best way to reach me. For the past few weekends in a row I’ve watched The...
4 tags
Bullion - Caroline, No (J Dilla vs. Beach Boys)
Bring Dilla back.
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Mr. Beatnick - Sun Goddess
As played on the Gilles Peterson BBC radio 1 show.
Also available for listening on the Bombtune fan page.
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Images First. Conversation Second.
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the growth of interest based networks like Pinterest and Instagram and how they all revolve around the Facebook centerpiece.
However, few people understand why these networks are taking off so quick.
The main reason Pinterest is booming in addition to loudmouth PR is that it’s focused on liking and sharing in a scannable structure. Users go...
17 tags
Luke Wroblewski's "One Thumb. One Eyeball."...
Luke Wroblewski (@LukeW) stopped by the office today for a few hours to present his thoughts on mobile design.
I caught the first half of the presentation and jotted down these eye openers.More iPhones sold per day than babies born in the world. That’s 378k iPhones vs 371k babies.
Mobile has eaten all forms of mass media before it.Those mass mediums include print, recordings, cinema, radio,...
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Freddie Joachim - Morena
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On Facebook, Nothing Is Lost and Everything Is An...
“The timeline is the rest of our lives…” (link)
That’s it. Game over. Facebook’s timeline etches our lives into a digital map to save memories forever.
The forever piece makes Facebook indispensable. You’ll always come back searching for something from the past, even if it’s not yours. Chances are that your friend has vacations captured on film or in photos...
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Rapid Fire Creativity (Instagram Update 2.2)
Instagram is loving this moment.
Pinterest is the talk of the town. Facebook is updating all it users and brands to Timeline. Twitter is making millions of its enhanced advertising platform. Instagram is just riding the wave.
Source: instagr.am via Wells on Pinterest
Tonight Instagram announced an update that makes its camera faster and its uploads quicker. This is awesome for rapid fire...
