Subaru WRX STi

You might recognize some of the footage from this commercial from the DC shoes video that was posted previously.

Why Design Exists

Oh the horror. Found on Bottom Rung [added to our blog roll].

Remote Control Car + Bottles + Liquid = Super Mario Brothers Theme song

This is awesome. A child lined up dozens of wine bottles, each with a different level of liquid and then used a remote control car to play the bottles. The result is the Super Mario Brothers theme song. Ohh the memories.

This kid - A musical genius.

Facebook Responds to Google Trends

Paul has written a lot about his unhealthy obsession with Google Trends over the last few months but he might have something new to feed his addiction - Facebook Lexicon.

Lexicon is a new semi-public program that allows users to search specific data that Facebook captures. Unlike Google Trends which tracks the number of times a specific topic is searched in a given time frame, Lexicon tracks the number of times a term is posted on someone's wall.

Movies provide a good example of how it works. When I'm going to a movie and updating a friend, I'll usually mention the name of it in my post ("I just went to Juno" or "Want to go to 21?"). When other friends view [or creep] on my friends wall, they might read my post and also become interested in what we've been discussing. They might even think about seeing Juno because of the fact that I've just gone.

Here is an example of how many times Juno was referenced on a wall, event or group based on Lexicon's data. I've also compared it with "21":

You can see that the data set isn't totally accurate - especially for a search like "21". A large reason to use Facebook is to remember your friend's birthdays and the spikes on 21 most likely represent the multitude of "Happy 21st B-day" messages that are constantly posted.

However it's interesting to view in the context of Juno. Juno was released to the North American masses in November and you can see how the momentum built around the film and peaked just after New Years. What's interesting is the steep incline at the outset (highlighting the buzz around the film) and the slow burn that occurred for months afterward (people discussing and encouraging others to see the movie).

Although Lexicon might not yet have the functionality of Google Trends, it can help a brand track the initial success of a campaign on it's "talk-ability" factor. When you're launching a campaign, do people mention or talk about it in their day to day social networking?

Learn more about Lexicon on the official Facebook blog.

If only she could make a decent cup of coffee

Wow...I can't believe it. Found on BoingBoing


TalentEgg and The Graduate Niche

A good friend of mine launched a new site a few weeks ago called TalentEgg. The main objective of the site is to help graduate students find careers (and summer students find jobs). For employers, it's a place to look for much-needed employees in a different way than the standard resume drop off.

The site has already received some good, local coverage and in a couple months (spring is the key time for applications for summer jobs / graduate students) it could grow rapidly.

Although the site is still in beta, TalentEgg is an interesting idea. The main ways for a graduate student to find a job are to go to a career fair, register on gigantic sites like Monster.com or CareerBuilder (who don't notice or care about you) or simply work any connection they have into getting an interview.

Getting your first job is hard work. Even when you get to the interview stage, you've got to get past the various stages, go through scrutiny depending on your degree [Arts especially] and hope that if you do get an offer it's enough to live off. Graduates will usually do anything to help enhance the chance to get an interview. Most aren't sure what career they want and pursue multiple options.

TalentEgg provides them with another, niche option. A place to keep looking for that elusive first job. But how will TalentEgg compete with the Monsters and mammoth job sites?

By being specific and limited.

We've written a lot about the evolution of niches and how the web allows people to find and create specific communities dedicated to their core interests. Social networks link LinkedIn focus specifically on creating business contacts while emerging places like Ning give anyone the tools to develop their own, niche networks.

To me, two of the key ways that TalentEgg can succeed are:

1. Staying Niche and Not Succumbing to the Pressure of the Masses - focus and more focus. If TalentEgg becomes the destination for graduate students (and for corporations to find them), people around the country will recognize that it's not worth throwing your resume in with the millions of other people on Monster.com when you can be found quickly because of our niche - being a graduate student.

2. Be Personal - one of the biggest drawbacks with existing job search sites is that they don't care about you. When I was looking for work, I needed advocates. People who would keep their eyes open and mention me whenever they heard of an opening. Friends who would put their reputation on the line for me in the hopes that I could get an interview (and then a job).

TalentEgg could be one of those advocates. After you register, the site could not only alert you when new jobs get posted, but help you to improve your Talent Card, resume, interview tips and provide insights into the companies that you're interested in (good and bad).

Imaging a resource that doesn't just contain a company profile, but gives you an insider look into the day-to-day of working there. Do current employee's really enjoy it? How long do they usually stay? What opportunities do they have after they leave? What are the people like?

It's exciting to go to a site like TalentEgg and see the potential it could have on graduate students across the globe. It's personal, easy to use and run by someone who has been through the trials of searching for a job with an Arts degree. I'd encourage everyone to check it out, especially employers who want to expand their recruitment strategies and find great people for their organization.

Congratulations on your launch, Lauren, and please keep us posted on how things are going.


Jailbroken Ipod Touches featured in Ads

Both Circuit city and RadioShack have run the same image in their weekend circulars - the image of a Ipod touch that has been jailbroken.

My guess is that this can be blamed on one of two things, cheap clients and stock photography or a moronic retoucher/photographer assistant..etc.

Essentially I believe they purchased the cheapest stock photograph available and it just happened to be of a broken phone. But what I believe to most likely be the reason is that this is the fault of the retoucher or the photographers team. Most devices are shot turned off and captured or downloaded electronically, then placed onto the screen during the retouching stage. This is usually the case especially when used for print as the resolution must be at least 300 dpi.

I imagine Steve Jobs and a number of RadioShack & Circuit City execs will be mighty pissed Monday.

The lesson - hire smart professionals, have an eye for detail and don't be cheap.

Wii Remote Hacks

Brilliant video from the 2008 TED conference. Check out some of the innovative (and cheap) ways to re-use your Wii remote.

We will keep you updated on the state of 3D gaming after the EA game release in May.

Unreleased Mac vs. PC - Developers take the year off

Experiential Site Design

Site design is one of the most important considerations for building an interactive experience. Many corporate sites provide horrible user experiences because they want to incorporate all the information on one page - new products, thousands of options, the latest deals, plans and, of course, contact information.

I've recently been working with an experienced UXD (User Experience and Design) consultant and have learned the need to structure all information in a cohesive and intuitive way. It's amazing to see the improvements in a web site when you clearly define the path's that you want your users to go down and the pages that are most critical for them to view.

One of the top UXD blogs that I've been able to find is called Logic+Emotion. Written by David Armanio (current VP of Experience Design at Digital shop Critical Mass), the blog is the destination for aspiring interactive people to understand the importance of thinking through design and enabling your users to have excellent experiences.

Not only does it provide a good overview, but also great examples.

My favorite site - from an experiential POV - is Motorola City. Designed by European agency Soulpolice and managed by BBDO NY, Mororola City's objective is to let users experience the benefits that Motorola can provide to governments and their communities.

By combining video with 9 comprehensive stories, the site provides a great view of Motorola's products and solutions - from managing a fire in downtown to fingerprinting a suspect in the subway.

This site isn't just executed flawlessly - it's designed with the main objective in the forefront. Every click, video and story helps to highlight the benefits of working with Motorola. If you want to get a sense of the possibilities of a website, you've got to check it out.

Just remember the next time your working on a site - it can look great, but if the user experience sucks it's not going to last long.

If Apple created Facebook

I just finished reading the article "Evil/Genius" from this months WIRED magazine. It is an interesting review of how Apple does not follow the silicon valley way of working. Autonomy, collaboration and employee rights do not rule, Steve Jobs does. Apple is a world of security, job insecurity and a fear of disappointing Steve. It is this environment that powers the machine that creates some of the worlds most sought after products and industry innovations.

The article Evil/Genius reiterated what I had previously heard about Apple, discussing Steve's style of micro-managing every aspect of every project, how software and hardware development are separated in an almost church and state like structure and how the only person who truly understands how it will all come together and go-to-market is Steve.

This got me thinking about some of today's digital trends and how they would be impacted/changed if Steve Jobs oversaw their development and launch. Lets focus on Facebook.

1. Facebook and Applications - All apps would be put through a detailed review ensuring that the user experience of both the members adding the app as well as the experience of visitors to profiles is not negatively impacted. This would probably eliminate over 75% of the current apps available of Facebook. Some such as friend block and funwall that make it so that some profiles take 3 minutes to load would be eliminated.

2. Who can join? - You would have to have an Apple computer to access the group. This would set-up barriers to join, but it would also strengthen the ties within the social community and probably act as a catalyst to Mac adoption as friends and family become interested and want to join.

3. Advertisers - would be non existent except Apple. The revenue stream would probably come from a free to join (basic profile) but pay to add and access applications and functionality.

4. Steve Jobs would decline your friend invite.

5. Video - as all Mac's come with a built in camera their would be video integrated. Groups could talk to one another - watch one another. When you are online your profile could be actual video of you, etc.

6. Innovation would happen once a year - Macworld would be where all of the new apps are introduced and unleashed upon the world of social networking giving us all one year to play with them, add them and then start to speculate on how Apple will improve our online lives next year.