Archive for the ‘General’ Category

The 59 Sound

It seems like I can’t get enough of The Gaslight Anthem since a friend recommended their album "The ‘59 Sound."  I love listening to the title track, though once you absorb the lyrics it starts to tug on the ol’ heartstrings.
There’s a clue to the meaning of the phrase "59 sound" at 3:07 in the [...]

More »

Have You Saved a Cat?

Your brand (whether personal, professional, product, or corporate) embodies a story.  A good story sells.  A great brand story helps people connect with a brand.
I recently finished reading "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder.  The book is for screenwriters.  Let’s clear up one quick point:  I do not aspire to screenwriting.  The book was recommended [...]

More »

Will Internet Fad-to-Fade Hype Cycles Implode?

Following the vein of some of my other #junechallenge posts, I’m doing some thinking about Internet hype cycles and the impact of Internet on culture.
As a prelude to that, listen to Nora Young’s interview with Bill Wasik on Viral Culture.  One thing that piqued my interest was a comment about spending time working on things [...]

More »

Post-it Stop Motion Awesomeness

Here is a fantastic piece of video art using Post-it notes to do pixel-style stop motion. Brilliant work.  Great job, Bang-yao Liu (Savannah College of Art and Design).
 

And lest you think this is just some bored kid wasting time, watch the "Making of" video to see just how involved it was:
 

More »

Why Are You Hedging?

Is there something you want to accomplish?  Is there a side project, a small business, a rental property, or something else you’re dreaming about?  Maybe you want to write a novel or act in the theatre.  Maybe you simply want to end a week feeling like you are not falling behind.  Why are you avoiding [...]

More »

It is OK to Hate Your Customers

Obviously it is OK to hate your customers because so many companies clearly do, and they do so actively.  Want proof?  Test the limits of their "friendly customer service."  Be a little bit annoying or high maintenance or disagreeable.
You might want to be cautious and experiment with a company that sells a product or service [...]

More »

Pay Attention: The World is Changing

A digital native is a person for whom digital technologies already existed when they were born, and hence has grown up with digital technology such as computers, the Internet, mobile phones and MP3s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native

The world is changing and you need to pay attention to an important trend:  digital natives are not very good at paying attention.  [...]

More »

Writing for the Internet Generation

You won’t read most of what I write in this post.  You will most likely skim it and at best read half of the content (on average).
In May 2008, usability guru Jakob Nielson published his analysis of web usage data borrowed from a research study.  I recommend you read it after this article.  Here’s the [...]

More »

When Does Quality Matter?

"A job worth doing is worth doing well"
This past week I received a book of coupons in the mail from local businesses.  I believe in supporting local business, especially locally owned and owner-operated businesses, so I flipped through it.  One coupon caught my eye.  It was for a business I had not heard of before [...]

More »

Another June Challenge

The June Challenge is a final kick of self-discipline before the lackadaisical days of summer.
What’s your June Challenge for 2009?  Share it with the world on Twitter using the hash tag #junechallenge.
Two years ago my June Challenge was to blog every Monday through Saturday for the month of June. It was a reasonably [...]

More »

Bad Behavior has blocked 1075 access attempts in the last 7 days.