friday digest no. 6

22 Jan, 2010 • posts i've written • No comments

Welcome to another Friday Digest, where I wrap up my favorite posts by other people this week. Remember, if it’s Friday and if you’re reading anything else other than this… you’re doing it wrong.

• Bundle.com – Hey you, quit digging through your neighbor’s trash just to find out how much they paid for their new shih tzu, Barney Rubble. There’s a website for that now. Pick your hood, your age, your household, and compare your expenses.
• Lucy in the Sky with Data – New York-based designer Mike Deal charts The Beatles with some beautiful data-vis work. If you look at these in the mirror, they say Paul is dead. True story.
• Get a tattoo without looking like such a douchebag (too late? sorry!)
• Sigh. Kate Moss. – Enough said. Mildly NSFW.
• Jetpacks are for fucking morons – Real geniuses wear their personal flying suit. Thanks NASA!
• Dude! You got fat. – College Humor offers a few cautionary tales of the freshman fifteen.

Speaking of expanding bags of air, check out this inflatable hospital from Doctors without Borders:

“The whole 41 metric ton setup allows 9 tents housing 100 beds to be delivered by air, an inflatable facility that operates nearly autonomous from Haiti’s devastated infrastructure. Everything from generators to sterilization equipment comes along with the tents.” – more here

I have no idea what’s happening here, but this one’s going to be the front side of my new business card.

And this will be printed on the back.

If you’ve got some time on your hands today and want the full story on the New York Times pay wall, give this a read.

Enjoy your weekend – say hello to your mother for me.

friday digest no. 5

15 Jan, 2010 • posts i've written • 3 comments

Welcome to another Friday Digest, where I wrap up my favorite posts by other people this week. Remember, if it’s Friday and if you’re reading anything else other than this… you’re doing it wrong.

• Netflix Voyeur – some people like to divide up America based on red states and blue states, conservative values and liberal values, well, I like to use a simpler method: shit taste vs good taste. Yeah. I said it. And that’s that. (I’ve also decided to end all arguments this month with, “and that’s that.”)
• Skewed China birth rate to leave 24 million men single – here’s how this happened: China said “the only thing we won’t mass produce is lead laden toys… HA! KIDDING! We mean babies. Seriously.” And then the people were all like, “Hey, we can use ultrasound to keep the boys and ditch the girls! Yeah! Penis!” Put it together and then you get a Kevin Costner-like post-apocalyptic wasteland where the most precious substance in all the land is Jergens Lotion (kleenex tissues a close second).
• The Limits of Multiculturalism – David Byrne blogs (yes, that David Byrne, Talking Head) on the Hasids vs The Hipsters, Williamsburg Bike Lane edition. If you find yourself ensconced by beautiful liberal women, do what everyone else does – buy the Grizzly Bear album, cuff a pant leg, put your narrow ass on two wheels, and denounce God.
• Dept of Fallen Icons: Corporate Takeover Division – Oh Luke Wilson, worst. gig. ever. I suppose it’s easier to hit rock bottom when you gain 50 pounds.
• 78% of Women Want You to Shave Your Junk, Dudes – Don Q Rum is one of UC’s favorite clients because we get to create awesome content with awesome partners like this.
• MIT is Building a Food Printer – One small step closer to Star Trek, one giant leap to seducing hot green alien babes.
• World Question Center – One simple question, “How has the internet changed how you think?” answered by 12 of the most interesting people in the world including Richard Dawkins, Clay Shirky, Kevin Kelly and the other brilliant 9. This is not light reading, so you may want to put that TV on mute and put the hero sandwich down.

fav found image of the week

Have a great weekend, get someone pregnant! And make it a girl – when China becomes our economic overlords ladies will be our number one export.

friday digest no. 4

08 Jan, 2010 • posts i've written • No comments

The Friday Digest is the cream of the crop from my shared posts – in other words, don’t bother reading anything during the week because I’ve done all that nerd work for you.

• Foursquare done went city-less – time to check-in to that scary rest area on 1-45
• What if Shakespeare had written the Big Lebowski – And let it noted be that wildlife kept, Amphibious rodent, in domestic walls, Is retrograde to right and civil laws.
• A Visual History of Loudness in Popular Music – Mom’s everywhere rejoice vindicated, today’s music IS louder.
• How to identify a Genetically Modified Organism – tips on spotting fake fruits, not that there’s anything wrong with that…

You may have also noticed a few posts featuring li’l ol’ me this week,

• Anthropologist and author Grant McCracken interviewed as a follow up to his latest book, Chief Culture Officer, see Part I and Part II
• The Fiesta Movement featured on the Harvard Business Review blog (with a quote from me)

Fave found image:

Fave deep tweet:

friday digest no. 3

18 Dec, 2009 • posts i've written • No comments

Apologies for a bit of Holiday tardiness this week; but here we go, the Friday Digest – the only thing you need to read today – a round up of my favorite shared posts.

To the shares!

• To The Future! A List of Intention Enabled Websites – Jeremiah’s quick list of sites that put the future in immediate consciousness; I’ve been working on a similar list of sites/tools that map to our perceptions of past, present, and future with my fellow strats here at Undercurrent ever since I released my slideshare.
• Statistics to English Translation, Part 2b: Calculating Significance – Marketers love to talk data but most seem to lack even a rudimentary understanding of statistical significance. Read up.
• YouTube Becoming a Social Net, Google Becoming Humble? – Pal and former MIT CMS lab researcher Joshua Green covered this ground in his excellent book on YouTube, go buy it and read it.
• Visual Insights Into Global Social Web Involvement – Ever wondered what social web participation looks like across the globe? Well, wonder no more.
• Cisco, NASA Reveal Planetary Skin Institute - Lots of sensors, lots of data, and lots of insight into our complex world.

fav found image, she reminds me of Sundance’s foxy school-marm lady