September 2012

4 Posts

Finding Real Solutions For Getting College Credit...

We’re finally starting to see real, viable solutions materialize for getting college credit for free online classes. It’s happening slowly

Cab Drivers Are Adopting Square in Boston

Jason Goldberg: You Can’t Iterate Yourself...

Premature Scaling Kills Startups: The Genome Data

I tweeted the link to this Bostinno article exactly a year ago today, but it’s still a great read. It

August 2012

4 Posts

Barclays and The Work Foundation Are Trying to...

50 Free UI and Web Design Wireframing Kits, Resources and Source Files

Gotta love Smashing Magazine. There’s some great stuff in this post. Wireframe your heart out.

Design For People, Not Awards

Giving Co-Working a Shot

workbar

July 2012

2 Posts

Designer’s Handshake

designers-handshake-1

Lease With An Option To Buy…In The Cloud

Adobe’s new subscription-based pricing structure for the Creative Suite (CS6) and Creative Cloud scare me a bit – not because

June 2012

1 Post

Should we ditch our blogs and just use sites like...

This is a question I find myself coming back to often. As longer form sharing starts to move to central

May 2012

11 Posts

First Fast Follower And The Myth of First Mover...

I watched a short Stanford entrepreneurship lecture on Udemy.com today given by Steve Blank, a serial entrepreneur. In the second section,

How Might We Create A Community That People...

HMW_1---Create-a-community-to-aspire-to

Learning Web Design, Web Development & iOS...

Like many web designers and developers, I’m almost completely self taught. I started years ago with books, manuals and blog

On Curiosity, Rigor, and Learning As You Go

In this 30 minute video, Photographer and filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman shares some lessons from his time creating the Wisdom project,

Process Is Not Magic

Today’s post is a link to a free wallpaper design illustrating a quote by Charles Eames comes from the CAMP

Three Tools For Quick User Interface Prototyping

This week I’ve been doing some research on prototyping tools. A discussion about these types of tools and what works

On The Creation Economy

For the last two years, Wired has held an annual “Disruptive By Design” business conference. A few days ago, Wired

Sneak Peek

You may have noticed that I gave my blog a face lift this week. I’ve been having some fun working

Creating Extensible Baseline Grids

In addition to the Y-axis grid, a baseline-style grid can be a really valuable X-axis alignment tool when you’re design

Staying Creative

You just can’t emphasize #29 enough. :)

Why Designers Should Be In Love With The Process

This 99% Conference talk by Yves Béhar on the design process has some great nuggets in it. I watched it

April 2011

2 Posts

Book Review- Above The Fold: Understanding the...

The Motorola Xoom Has A Marketing Problem

March 2011

1 Post

Check In Where You’ll Be In The Future. Not...

February 2011

6 Posts

A Smart Strategy For Quickly Building A User Base...

This morning I started seeing a message repeatedly hit my Twitter stream from friends. “Just requested an invite to @Yobongo,

Why Most Facebook Marketing Doesn’t Work

There’s a great article on ReadWriteWeb today titled Why Most Facebook Marketing Doesn’t Work by Peter Yared, who is the

Everything Is A Remix

This morning I got sucked face-first in to the productivity-killing vortex that is the Vimeo Staff Picks Channel and found

The Next Disruptive Gadget Is Here. And You...

Maybe we’ve all gone iPhone and iPad crazy. That’s what all the buzz is about right now and it’s one

On Soliciting Links for Link Campaigns

When most people think about link campaigns, they have solicited links in mind. They have heard about the process of

Reinventing Real Estate Websites With WordPress 3...

January 2011

7 Posts

Why Pay A Professional to Help You Build Your Business Online?

Note: The following article is a guest post I wrote for Rahvalor, an online creative agency in New Jersey that

A First Look At The New Facebook Inbox

[tweetmeme] A few days ago I got an early invite to try Facebook’s next big upgrade – the new inbox.

Visualizing Your Professional Network With...

In Defense Of RSS

[tweetmeme] When you decide you want to read online, where do you usually start? Do you open a browser and

Launch Day: A Fresh Look For Rahvalor

Over the past 2 weeks I’ve spent some long days and a few really late nights working with some great

101 Must-See Digital Marketing Charts and Graphs

HubSpot has compiled 101 marketing charts and graphs based on original research and data from a variety of sources, including

My 3 Themes for 2011

Every year Chris Brogan does a “My 3 words” post to bring in the new year. The idea behind coming

December 2010

1 Post

Research Reveals Corporations To Focus On...

There’s a great slide deck and data analysis on Jeremiah Owyang’s blog from his Keynote at LeWeb this week. The

October 2010

1 Post

Check-in Royalty, Customer Loyalty and...

[tweetmeme] The mobile check-in wars are starting to get interesting. Several weeks ago Facebook announced  “Facebook Places” and the immediate

August 2010

1 Post

23 Rules of Thumb for Effective Blogging

I’ll be speaking at Connected Marketing Week tomorrow in a session called “Small Voices, Big Results” at 1pm. Specifically, I’ll

June 2010

7 Posts

Measuring Social Media Engagement In The Context...

One of the issues I see a lot of business people still trying to wrap their heads around is how

Visualizing Twitter Activity Of Football Fans...

Twitter’s given us the best approximation of a true, measurable “pulse of the globe” that we’ve ever had and in

The Best Learning Hubs For Web Design,...

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time learning on the web. I’ve temporarily put blogging and all the social

WordPress 3.0 “Thelonius” Is Now...

3.0 is here, and it’s packed with awesomeness. I do all of my website development on WordPress these days and

How YouTube Handles Copyright, and Some Thoughts...

I’ve got a great two-video combo for you today that throws a spotlight on the current state of remix culture

New in the iPhone App Store: Camera+

We’re 4 days away from being able to pre-order the new iPhone and my gadget lust is at code orange.

The Power of “vs” metadata: How To...

There’s a quick and dirty trick I’ve been using lately to do research on products and services. Whenever I’m about

May 2010

1 Post

New Behaviors To Maintain Old Habits

Lately I’ve noticed more and more people putting a “.” before they type a reply to someone in Twitter’s public

April 2010

4 Posts

The Rise of DSLR Filmmakers & The Next Wave...

For the past few weeks I’ve been tooling around the web doing research on DSLR cameras, many of which now

How To Get A Facebook Like Button For Your...

[tweetmeme] Want a Facebook “Like” button for your WordPress blog like the one you see on this blog? It’s super

I’m On A Boat! – How To Use...

A few weeks ago, Joe Sorge showed us how he used Foursquare to get a flash mob of 150+ people into

Design Project: The Vineyard Vines Blog

Happy Friday, Everyone! It’s been a busy couple of weeks, and I’m proud to be able to finally announce the

March 2010

8 Posts

My Story: From Georgetown Graduate Student To...

A common question I get from curious folks who find my blog is “What made you decide to start blogging?”.

The Ten Commandments Of User Experience

This presentation given by Nick Finck and Raina Van Cleave at SXSW this year is great. Slides 5, 10 and

Nominated For San Diego “New Media”...

I’m excited and honored to have been included in InfluenceSD’s nominees for  “Blogger Of The Year” for 2009. InfluenceSD is

Case Study: How To Use Foursquare To Draw A Crowd...

ajbombers_leaderboard

Your Customers Leave A Trail Of Breadcrumbs

If you sell online, pay attention to the data trail your customers leave. There are golden nuggets of information about

How To Test How Your Audience Is Responding To...

Sometimes It IS About The Technology

You know when the technology itself makes the most difference to how much engagement you get on the social web?

The Way We Consume Magazines Is About To Change:...

Back in January I wrote a post discussing why the iPad would be so significant to the future of publishing

February 2010

8 Posts

Video Demo: Prototype of Translation in Google...

The ability to translate text directly from a photograph is a perfect example of some of the possibilities that emerge

It’s Not Who You Know…

When it comes to getting things done, the old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is

Autonomy In Your Work

When it comes to our work, wouldn’t we all be happier and more motivated if we were given the freedom

Maps, Meta data and Augmented Reality

“All of our devices – our mobile phones, cameras, toys and media players – will become increasingly aware of where

Connecting and Making An Impact

This morning I got a pleasant surprise. The mail man dropped off a hardcover copy of Seth Godin‘s new book

Now You Can Accept Credit Card Payments On Your...

I can think of so many reasons why this is a good idea. If this startup can get the security

Depleted vs. Spent

I spent a couple of happy, quiet hours last night with my nose in Pamela Slim‘s book Escape from Cubicle Nation.

Design That Changes How We Think About

“If the American Dream of the Baby Boomers was all about being able to have a car and a house

January 2010

16 Posts

Google Search Is Getting More Social

You knew this was coming. Google about to start surfacing public web content from your friends and online contacts.

Why Apple’s iPad Is So Significant To The...

It wast much of a surprise that in the hours leading up to and following Apple’s official unveiling of the

How Social Media Can Boost Restaurant Business

This short video was posted by Chris Brogan a few days ago. I love finding real-life stories about how small

The Four E’s Of Social Media Marketing

I’ve heard the advantages of shifting from traditional marketing to social media marketing strategies articulated many different ways, but Jeffrey

Riddles For Linchpins

I found this video this morning. It’s a 5 minute stream of offbeat, interesting and disturbing questions to help exercise

Making Maps To Fight Disaster & Build...

Did you know that as of 2005, only 15 percent of the world was mapped? Google’s Lalitesh Katragadda thinks we

Consumer Expectations Are Shifting

Here’s a smart post from Gary Vaynerchuck. He’s right about this. The way we are connected to people, products, brands,

What Would Proximity Sensors Do For The Mobile...

Our dumb web is getting smarter. It already knows who you are and who you know, and it won’t be

Here Come The GeoWeb Wars

One of the very first apps I downloaded on the iPhone was Around Me, and it’s still one of my

When There Is No Manual

It’s not always easy to tell who’s really leading when an entire team is just going through the motions and

BART Teams up with Foursquare to Add Some Fun For...

Foursquare’s thinking outside the box. They’ve teamed up with BART to spice up the ride for commuters. This is the

Shifting To A “People Driven” Economy

Erik Qualman has produced a few good videos like this in tandem with the release of his book Socialnomics. This

Simple Touch Points Of Loyalty

Julie got this card in the mail the other day from our dry cleaner. It probably took them only a

Hacking The Flip – A Quick Lesson In...

I’ve been an Flip Camera owner for about a year now. I’m actually on my second one. I started with

Three Themes For 2010

I’ve decided to ditch the idea of new years resolutions this year and focus instead on three key themes. Here

Best of 2009

2009 was a great year for me and this blog. I had a ton of fun writing, I learned a

December 2009

11 Posts

Talking Social Media In Long Beach, CA

Two weeks ago, Gunn/Jerkens, a Marketing Communications company I do social media consulting for, hosted it’s first-ever Social Media Mingle

The Future Of Magazines?

I came across this video demo of a digital magazine prototype on Popular Science and was ultra impressed. Hat tip

Social Media ROI Reality Check

This slide deck by Oliver Blanchard on Social Media ROI is a hoot. It provides a witty introduction to measuring

The Critical Shift

Five years ago, if someone from your marketing department said “Let’s market to our existing customers!” they would have risked

Absolut Me

A Wordle of your delicious tags can be surprisingly revealing about what makes you tick…

Creating A Branded Social Media Presence For A...

A social media project I’ve been working on this month went live today, and I’m proud to finally be able

The Future of Freedom In The Internet Age

Today there’s a big push to make Internet Access a basic human right. In the US, the majority of us

The Phone Book – Designing Interactive...

It takes about 30 seconds to realize that this product is a perfect marriage between digital and analog. The interface

Beyond Buzz: Diving Into How You Actually Measure...

One of the hardest questions to answer definitively when it comes to social media is “How do we measure ROI

Social Media = Positive ROI

Katie Wynner and I have been putting together a presentation we’re giving in Long Beach, CA this week on Social

What Would You Do Tomorrow If You Were Laid Off...

It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? There are a lot of people out there right now who’ve had the question

November 2009

1 Post

Achieving Empathy

There’s a reason people say “try walking a mile in their shoes“. Achieving empathy isn’t just about putting yourself in

October 2009

7 Posts

Trends That Are Influencing The Future Of Work

Now that we’ve got the technology to connect in real time, 24/7 to anyone with an internet connection, more and

It’s Good To Be The Guru!

I’m having a lot of fun playing two social games right now – Glue and Foursquare. Foursquare connects you and

How To Create A WordPress Theme From Scratch...

I recently found this video series on the theme forest community blog and thought it was so valuable that it

Hitwise Data Shows That We’re All Twittered...

Some fresh Hitwise data posted by Bill Tancer just a few weeks ago indicates that Twitter might have hit a

Focusing On Value: How I’m Changing How I...

reset_button

Using New Media, New Marketing, and New Thinking...

This lecture from Seth Godin is around 2 years old, but the ideas still resonate strongly, especially in the wake

Who Are Your Organization’s Rockstars?

I get a kick out of this Intel commercial every time I see it. Geeky? Sure. But it’s brilliant. It

September 2009

11 Posts

An Overview Of Google Wave From The Google Wave...

100K Google Wave invites went out today and there are a lot of people wondering what it is, what it’s

American Healthcare Reform On The Back of A

SlideShare announced the winners of its 3rd annual “Best Presentation in the World” contest today. A panel of business presentation

Repositioning The Traditional Advertising &...

Audiences are skipping TV spots with their DVRs and learning how to ignore ads on the web. Instead, they’re talking

What Great Surfers Know

Timing is everything. Making “amazing” look easy isn’t just about talent and practice, it’s about being in tune with the

76 Free Videos On Rethinking & Reshaping...

Couldn’t make the Gov 2.0 summit or Expo this year? No sweat. O’Reilly has posted 76 videos from the event

Core Principals For Creating Robust and Vibrant...

In this presentation, Christina Wodtke (LinkedIn) shares some core principals for creating online communities, and discusses critical design decisions that

Facebook Maps Their Growth To 250 Million

The Facebook team put this visualization together with their internal data and posted it today. Watch how Facebook has grown

Why I’m Keeping Facebook a Friends-Only...

Along with the shocking number of Mafia Wars invites I get on Facebook, I continue to get daily friend requests

The Last Time I Saw Dan Zaccagnino He Was Just...

That was over a decade ago. I was one of 7 senior proctors who lived in Memorial House at Choate

How Restaurants Can Use Social Sites Like Yelp To...

This Building43 video is a goodie. Robert Scoble does a quick 2 minute interview with Isaac Mogannam, the owner of

Dan Pink on The Science of Motivation And The...

Traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think and business as usual needs a new system of operating that’s

August 2009

12 Posts

Randy Komisar’s Cautionary Word on the...

I find myself coming back to nuggets on Stanford’s Entrepreneurship Corner frequently. These two, taken together, are like a motivational

Expert Tip: How To Use Google Alerts To Monitor...

Knowing how to use Google Alerts to monitor what people are saying about you or your company online is a

How A High End Boutique Uses Social Media Tools...

Here’s some practical advice on how to use online social networking tools to generate more traffic in your brick and

Netflix’s Freedom And Responsibility

I came across this awesome 128 slide presentation from the CEO of Netflix today (below). The presentation is meant to

Are We Innovating, Or Are We Doing Exactly The...

In this keynote on Constructive Capitalism, Umair Haque reminds us that not all profits are equal. While some truly innovative

Everything’s Good, Nobody’s Happy

A little shot of laughter and perspective to kick start your Monday.  :)

Branding, Adbusting and Culture Jamming

We’ve got a talent problem. We’ve got too many brilliant marketers getting us to love stuff. Somehow they’ve gotten us

An In-Depth Look at the Most Active Users on...

When Sysomos published its initial “Inside Twitter” report last month that looked at the people on Twitter and how it

How Different Groups Of Americans Spend Their Day

Ever wonder what the average American day is actually like? The New York Times published an interactive visualization this week

Teaching Grit: The Growth Mindset vs. The Fixed...

John Lehrer, author of How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist, wrote a piece for the Globe this week

Interactive World Map Of Social Network Dominance

worldmapsocialnetdominance

How To Build Cloud Communities

In this interview with Robert Scoble, Ripple6 founder Sang Kim talks about what his company has learned from trial and

July 2009

12 Posts

Actions Speak Louder Than Advertising

Razorfish released a report this month that’s worth spending some time with. The report has some valuable insights on how

5 Unmissable TED Talks On The Future Of...

[tweetmeme] #1 Tim Berners-Lee On The Next Web of Open, Linked Data 20 years ago, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World

Blogging For Humility, Perspective and Growth

I’m not a top blogger, a thought leader or industry expert, and probably won’t be any time soon. No big

Do LinkedIn Recommendations Matter In the...

There is an interesting conversation going on this week between some of the web’s heavy hitters on the subject of

Sticky Just Got Stickier

Along with a tune up and a face lift, the latest release of Glue boasts some new features that heavy

Alan Greenspan On Self Esteem, Our Nature and Our...

It’s been almost a year since I read The Age Of Turbulence, but I find myself repeatedly returning to a

Being A Local In Virtual Space

Let’s say you’ve recently moved to a new city. You’ve got a brand new apartment in an unfamiliar neighborhood and

How To Say Thank You On The Social Web

thank-you-from-the-sea-of-kindness

Cracking Open The Wisdom Project

A week has gone by since I eagerly placed the order for The Wisdom Book on Amazon. To tell you

Selfish vs. Self Absorbed

I had some fascinating and energetic conversations both online and off this week that started as shared reactions to my

The Cookie Jar Principle

cookiejar

Drinking From The Social Media Firehose – 6...

Social scientists have a name for the incessant online contact we experience by consistently immersing ourselves in social media. They

June 2009

5 Posts

Twitter’s Starting To Out Smart Spammers

Jesse Stay, Marshall Kirkpatrick and Dave Winer recently posted some interesting and insightful pieces on how Twitter is going after

The #IranElection Groundswell

I’ve been following the #IranElection Twitter Stream ever since the protests started. It’s not unlike trying to drink from a

Twitter Is Apple’s Support Forum

The iPhone 3.0 upgrade software was just released and, within minutes, #iPhone and #iTunes popup on the trending topics list

Getting The Most Out Of Your Lijit Wijit

I’ve been using Lijit since the inception of the service and while I’ve added and removed many different “fad” widgets,

Essential Techniques For Effective Signaling On...

Screen shot 2012-08-23 at 7.14.49 AM

May 2009

8 Posts

How To Use Google Trends Like A Pro

[tweetmeme] Google Trends is one of my favorite tools to come out of the Google Labs. While we data junkies

George Needs A Job

Everyone, meet George. Every morning at 7:45am for the last 6 weeks I’ve passed him on my way to work

Built It, Then Make Them Experts

There’s a lot we can learn about best practices for creating and releasing software or web services to the masses

The TED Ten Commandments and The Social Web

I enjoy following TED because it’s like drinking from a fire hydrant of amazing new ideas and stimulating discussion. The

Web 2.0 Expo Session Videos Are Online!

I had the privilege of recording some great talks at this year’s Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. For those

More On Pre-Zuckerberg Prep-School Facebook...

Today an article I wrote for ReadWriteWeb went live titled “Did Mark Zuckerberg’s Inspiration For Facebook Come Before Harvard?‘. I

Did Mark Zuckerberg’s Inspiration For...

Note: This article I wrote was originally published on ReadWriteWeb and syndicated to the New York Times on May 10th,

The Real Dynamics Of First-Mover Advantage

Mick Liubinskas (Co-Founder and Web Product Director of Pollenizer) wrote a piece today on ReadWriteWeb as part of their ReadWriteStart

April 2009

7 Posts

Why The Public Sector Needs To Commit To...

Speaking at the National Academy of Sciences 2 days ago, the President reinforced the need for a sustained national commitment

Mulitple Prototypes, Better Feedback

I mentioned in a previous post that open-social development for products has been a getting a lot of press lately.

Encouraging Randomness and Accelerating...

If you’re a heavy Twitter user like me, you may be familiar with the awkward, tense feeling that can grip

I’m A Guest On TwitterTalkRadio!

This week was my friend Angie Swartz‘s first week hosting TwitterTalkRadio on WSRadio.com. I first met Angie at the Charity:Water

Trendspotting At Web 2.0 Expo

I recently spent a week at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, CA. I had a ball. There’s something

An Interview With Alex Iskold, Founder and CEO of...

This just popped on to my radar and I thought it was worth sharing. A number of people have asked

The Glue Community Gets What It Asks For

I hope you didn’t miss this in the wake of the Web2.0Expo excitement this week. AdaptiveBlue released a few major

March 2009

3 Posts

Geeking Out At Web 2.0

I’m heading up to San Fransisco tomorrow for the 2009 Web 2.0 Expo. I am thrilled. If you’re going to

Status Culture – Public vs Private and Why...

[tweetmeme]I recently made the decision to stop feeding my Twitter posts into Facebook. The reason is simple – I continually

Designing Remarkable, Viral Widgets

As the popularity of blogging, social media and open source development continue to explode, widgets are taking root as a

February 2009

2 Posts

The Best Techniques For Building Your Tribe On...

[tweetmeme]Twitter is one of the most powerful community building tools available today for two reasons – simplicity and transparency. With

Visualizing Positive Vibes of the 44th...

On Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 12pm, Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States of America. As

January 2009

8 Posts

Emergence: What Developers and Entrepreneurs Can...

[tweetmeme]All you systems theory buffs out there are probably familiar with the concept of “emergence”. For the rest of you,

Balance, Grasshopper

Building a startup can be an emotional roller coaster. When passionate entrepreneurs personally have a lot at stake in a

Infecting New Startup Recruits With Passion

Recruiting smart people to your startup isn't enough; they must also believe that what they do at your organization as an individual can help change the world for the better. Creating an organization based on goals that mean something to people can not only help your startup find and enlist talented people, but it will also be a tremendous long-term advantage because meaning is the most powerful motivator there is.

Hiring For Your Startup? Set Clear Expectations...

When you’re choosing candidates to bring on board your startup, it’s often easy to tell who’s hungry and excited to

Hacking Facebook: How To Update Your Facebook...

Here's a 4 step hack for people who want to be able to protect their Twitter Updates and still use Twitter to update their Facebook status.

Pick The Right Person for the Job AND The Group

Just because someone can do a job well, doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll mesh well with the rest of the

10000 Hours, Hits and Experts

Over the break I had the chance to read Malcolm Gladwell’s new book Outliers. The book’s been talked about a

7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Me

A few days ago I was called out on Twitter by a new friend of mine, Ryan, to write a

December 2008

1 Post

Video Preview of WordPress 2.7

I’m pretty psyched about the direction that WordPress seems to be going with 2.7. Customized dashboard? Moderating comments right from

October 2008

2 Posts

Building A New Type Of Social Network: How...

The web is evolving rapidly and it’s nice to see that social networking is evolving right along with it. If

The Real Difference Between Liberals And...

According to Jonathan Haidt, there’s one key personality trait (more than any other) that predicts who becomes liberal and and

September 2008

6 Posts

First Verizon Phones Running Android –...

Yesterday I posted a video of a Verizon phone running Android. Turns out, I got excited for good reason, because

Leaked: Video Of The Very First Android Device...

This just popped up on YouTube – only 80 views so far. Someone’s got Android running on a Verizon phone.

Solving Information Overload With Good Design:...

Lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with information, so I’ve started taking steps to trim some of the fat from my

The Win-Win Of Good Linking Etiquette

I link, you link, we all link. So why not do it the right way?  Following a few simple rules

5 Minutes With Woo: My Interview With A WordPress...

I’m humbled and excited by all the positive attention that the redesign of my blog’s been getting these past few

The Web and TV, A Sibling Rivalry

I came across this over the weekend and thought it was worth sharing – it takes an interesting look at

August 2008

5 Posts

The Simple Math Behind The Power Of The Swing

Mark Penn, worldwide CEO of Burson-Marsteller and chief adviser to Senator Clinton's presidential campaign, offers an excellent, concise explanation for exactly why swing voting, as he puts it, is king, as well as ideas on why the voting bases of the traditional red and blue camps are splintering into niches of independent thinkers. I offer just a few ideas/questions on what the rise of independent thinking and the increased importance of the swing vote could imply.

100+ Killer WordPress Resources

wordpress

Appealing to the Next Generation of Tech Users...

I’m not ashamed to admit that I spend an absurd amount of time tinkering in Apple stores with absolutely no

On Professionalism

Professionalism isn’t just about physical appearance or demeanor. It’s a method of interacting with people. Exhibiting professionalism is about respecting

What’s The Right Amount Of Outsourcing?

Over on the AdaptiveBlue Blog Fraser’s posed this question that’s started a good exchange of thoughts: As digital creeps into

July 2008

2 Posts

Revering Randy

Even though I didn’t know him personally, I was saddened to read the news that Randy died yesterday. His lecture,

Shut Down, Unplug, Reboot

After a long (but much needed) break from everything Internet, I’m excited to be back at the keyboard. OK, maybe

May 2008

2 Posts

The 10 Biggest Business Myths &...

The following is a transcription of the 2008 commencement speech given by Steve Gilbert at the Lauder Institute of The

Taking The Red Pill: Thoughts On A Week of...

This week I really got to see just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Five long days sitting in a

April 2008

6 Posts

What Matters Most When Determining Popularity...

Fraser, Alex, Adam, Pat and I are having an awesome debate today on the BlueBlog. Feel free to weigh in.

The Mystery Box

J.J. Abrams is just plain awesome. Thanks to Alex for twittering this link.

Getting To Know You In 140 Charaters Or Less

At first glance it might seem counter intuitive that microblogging could allow you to get to know someone more intimately

The Rise Of The Liveblogging Phenomenon

It’s amazing how fast information travels nowadays. With rapid adoption rates of multi-function, browser-ready devices like the iPhone becoming a

Analysing The Results Of The Gmail Custom Time...

So yesterday was April fools day, one of my favorite days of the year. Suffice it to say that I

Gmail’s New “Custom Time”...

You’ve probably seen novelty programs like TimeMachiner that allow you to send emails into the future. But what about being

March 2008

6 Posts

Praying for A Premium News Jackpot

Adii’s running a contest that WordPress theme designers can’t miss. Along with re-releasing upgrades of all the Premium News Themes

Feasting With A Foodie

We all eat, but some of us enjoy it more than others. Sometimes a lot more. Eating with someone who

Think No One’s Listening? Think Again.

The power of the Internet totally fascinates me. Not 12 hours goes by after I publish a post reviewing The

Book Review: The Adsense Code – What Google...

Before I dive into the pros and cons of this book, I think it’s important to acknowledge how significantly the

On Persistence

The most influential communicators are the ones that can boil an idea down to its core and translate it into

Rubbing Elbows With The Alpha Geeks

I just spent a fantastic 4 days at ETech08 in San Diego. A special and heart-felt thank you goes out

February 2008

3 Posts

Something Fun To Watch While I Upgrade This Site

GREAT Shadow Puppetry – video powered by Metacafe

The New Game Plan for 2008

It’s been a few weeks since this poor little blog has had any attention. Don’t worry, I’m still very much

Like Moths To A Flame: Why Open Source Draws...

Where there’s a social buzz around good open source code, there’s opportunity. And where there’s opportunity, there will be entrepreneurs.

November 2007

5 Posts

Hat Tip To The Boys In Blue

First off, congratulations are in order to my friends over at AdaptiveBlue. Not only have they surpassed the 1 million

How is it that some people can start changing the...

During a gander on TED this morning I came across something pleasantly shocking…the name of person I knew from highschool.

Our Cell Phones, Ourselves: Jan Chipchase Waxes...

Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase‘s investigation into the ways we interact with technology has led him from the villages of Uganda

Programming Bias Into Related Content Links: Are...

I’m no politico, but, with the presidential nominee race in full swing, politics has been on my mind more than

What It Takes To Be A Starbucks Die-Hard

I’m a Starbucks fan, but I’m not a die hard. And that’s a subtle, but critical distinction. I realized this

October 2007

11 Posts

Interview Skills: What Really Matters to...

In my final year of business school I remember being inundated with a lot of pre-interview advice and prep materials

Feelings, nothing more than Feelings

Consider this excerpt I pulled out of my book notes from Stumbling On Happiness: Nothing more than feelings? What could

San Diego Wildfires Threaten Chula Vista and Del...

From the hills of Malibu to the Border of Mexico, California is on fire. More than 500, 000 people have

Book Review: Stumbling On Happiness

If you chose to only read one book this year, I strongly urge you to consider this one. It ranks

A Sobering Morning Commute: Fires Rip Through San...

Last night Julie and I took a gander outside our apartment to try to find out who could possibly be

Speech Patterns and Intonation: Why Audio Books...

I first got hooked on audio books some time in the summer of 2005 when I began working as an

Must Have Tool For Developers: The Ardvark...

Web developers and designers, rejoice. Welcome to your new favorite Firefox extension. The Aardvark extension offers, among other things, a

How Many People Are Listening to What You Have to...

The best way to measure the influence of any blogger is readership (traffic). Thanks to companies like Feedburner and Alexa,

Book Review: The Elephant And The Dragon –...

It’s almost daily now that I hear some reference, whether from the Western Media or otherwise, to China or India.

Things You May Not Have Known About Gandhi

For the majority of time I studied and worked as a T.A. at Georgetown in 2003-2005 I lived in Adams

It’s All About Healthy Incentives

A common phrase I’ve heard associated with Tyler Cowen’s new book Discover Your Inner Economist is Mind Grenade, and less

September 2007

3 Posts

Get A FREE BlackBerry Curve From Cingular...

For weeks now I’ve been waiting for the price to drop on the Blackberry Curve – I’ve been checking the

The Powerful Advantage of Admitting You’ve...

Eliezer Yudkowsky’s response to her reading of a history of Enron’s downfall, The Smartest Guys in the Room… After I

Beta Testing SmartLinks: How and Why AdaptiveBlue...

For a weeks now I’ve been exchanging emails back and forth with Alex Iskold at AdaptiveBlue, beta testing and giving

July 2007

11 Posts

Loving San Diego’s La Jolla Shores

I went surfing with the guys this morning before work for the first time this summer and it was perfection.

The Open Library Aims For Free eBooks For All

The Internet Archive (the one that brought us the Wayback Machine) wants to provide free access to a comprehensive selection

Shift Happens

During one of our firm meetings covering how globalization will impact our firm and our jobs over the next decade,

Gaming In Cyberspace: How Interactive...

It’s been over 2 years now since my masters thesis was published in the Georgetown Library, but I’m finding that

On the Counterproductive Nature and Irrelevance...

I wish more people in the business world would get how they create negative, counterproductive atmospheres when mistakes are made

Be Skeptical. There’s Always At Least Two Sides...

As an African proverb says, “Until lions have their historians, all tales of hunting will glorify the hunter.”

Aristotle’s Challenge

Last night I had a hankering to revisit a book that I read in Grad School called Emotional Intelligence –

The Importance of Fostering the Habit of...

If I had one wish, it would be that I could learn at an incredible rate. The fulfillment of that

An Exceprt From An Essay By Einstein: “The...

What strikes me most about Einstein’s writings (this one in particular) is how very humble he seems. For a man

How I found Brad Feld and went

Although Brad Feld doesnt know me, he’s had a significant impact on my life (and free time) these past few

For the Nutritional Information Junky

I stumbled NutritionData.com this morning and thought it was definitely worth sharing. The site’s main selling point is that it

June 2007

2 Posts

On Setting Expectations and Appreciation of

I dont know where I heard this quote, but I had it written down on a piece of scrap paper

Blind Eyes Looking Straight At Me

I had an amazing experience last night walking home from the train stop by my house. It was raining a