We feel fine

I’ve sat around this morning playing with, pondering, thinking about wefeelfine, an interesting new web site. What makes it so special? Well…nothing…and everything of course.

Like much of the web, I’m sure there is some usefullness embedded in there somewhere. Like an international geopolitical minute by minute poll of our collective feelings. Perhaps at some point one could track future births by backtracking to the feelings of amorousness on a given day nine months prior. Or they could redirect counseling call centers to accept more distressed calls from New Mexico because they are feeling down.

In the meanwhile, it serves a a personal broadcasting and twitter like forum except they are just random comments, from random people about their feelings, all culled from the Internet rather than posted. By taking the comments out of context it feels like a poetic synapse firing away in the dark.

I feel…like it’s pretty cool.

I learned it from the movies.

Eiffel Tower from our window

Originally uploaded by Nikki Willson

It’s interesting think about how movies have influenced our perceptions of how life should be. Television has had its moments but it’s movies that have always been so much grander and more visceral. They’ve taught us how to fight fair (or not), how to win the girl, how to triumph over obstacles. Of course our deep knowledge of movies has also taught us that things never quite work out like they do in the movies. Speaking of which, where is my soundtrack?

A post over at the NYT ideas blog and the National Post got this thought train going.

Bookmarks Are For People That Hate Money

Photoetched steel bookmark | Japanese Woodblock

Originally uploaded by madcrow

I’m not sure how much money the bookmark industry brings in these days. I actually tried a brief search but the term “bookmark” has been co-oped by everyone in technology. My question is: why on earth do people pay for bookmarks anyway? I almost understand beautiful ones like the image attached but these are made of brushed stainless steel!?! Is that really necessary or even prudent?

The purpose of a bookmark is to mark your page in a book, yes? Perhaps people also use them to remind themselves that they are rich, appreciate beautiful design, or want to be constantly asked WWJD but I’m not so sure. I think the entire bookmark industry is a conspiracy against our good sense.

I’ll keep using a trusty dollar bill as my bookmark…because after all, it’s still cheaper than a bookmark.

Polaroid Fades To Black

my best polaroid ever ….Originally uploaded by james m

The Washington Post announced today that Polaroid is shuttering its factories…

“Polaroid, based in Waltham, Mass., is shutting down factories in the United States and abroad as the company abandons the technology that made the instant photo possible, the Boston Globe reported yesterday. The company will cease production of its film by next year.”

This essentially means that I have to start stocking up now. Polaroids, while environmentally unfriendly, are little bits of pleasure to me. Whether by livening up a party or bringing smiles to the faces of kids I meet in places like Ivory Coast, Polaroids have long been a big part of my photographic life. Somehow printed snapshots just don’t do justice to the spontaneity of life captured through the plastic lens.

This Doesn’t Make Any Sense!

1917 D pennyOriginally uploaded by Dystopos

According to 60 Minutes they can’t find anyone under 60 who wants to work there. Except for Katie Couric, but is there anywhere Katie Couric won’t work?

In other news, do you know that it takes 2 cents to make every penny and 10 cents to make every nickel? How much does this account for our deficit? Probably not as much as the two wars we’re in but still…

Embracing Failure

frisbee-failOriginally uploaded by distillerymedia

While in Italy for an ideation last week, we did a group exercise that examined our individual fears. As we went around the group, one fear came up again and again: the fear of failure.

We are all prone to fail, but few of us are ever able to create a place safe enough to admit the fear of failing, or harder still, admit past failures. As a manager, I see this most often with young employees who want to sweep their failures under the rug before anyone notices them. Although, in truth, I’m equally guilty of celebrating my successes rather than my failures. It comes down to how we want to be perceived. We are always afraid that moments of weakness will come to define us in the eyes of others.

I think Fridays are a good day to reflect on the week. To put down on paper all the successes we’ve had in the past week and then all the failures. Not to self-justify them or put them on other people, but rather to own up to things that, had we done them better, would have lead to a different outcome.

After that you should go over to The Fail Blog and realize that your life isn’t so bad.

Innovations That Work

rolling_bench

Originally uploaded by distillerymedia

Innovation is tough work for any company or product designer. How do you take something that works fairly well and find a way to make it work in some way better? This is a perfect example of how to do just that. I look forward to the days that I can sit outside after a rainy morning and take in the beauty of a city recently washed.

Hat tip to swissmiss and the designers over at Yanko Design.

An Indexed Life

card856Originally uploaded by distillerymedia

Jessica Hagy over at indexed has an acute sense of observation and a beautiful way of depicting the world. She also has a new book out which stirs up almost as much envy in me as I had for the guy who bartered his way from a red paperclip to a house in Kipling, Saskatchewan. Those Canadians are cute as puppies but boy, they will fall for anything.

By the way I have a whole box full of paperclips if anyone has an apt. building they would like to trade. Going once, going twice…

Democrats Are Smarter Than Republicans

Clinton(Democrats are sexy)Originally uploaded by Cal-el

I discovered an interesting little widget on my travels around the blogosphere yesterday: The Blog Readability Test. Type in your blog’s url and presto! It gives you a nifty little digi-sticker with your blog’s reading level on it. But it gets better– it works on regular websites too! Since I’m a nerd I looked up presidential candidates’ websites straight away. This is what I found…

DEMOCRATS:

BarakObama.com – College, Post Grad

JohnEdwards.com – Genius

HillaryClinton.com – Jr. High School*

REPUBLICANS:

JohnMcCain.com – High School

MittRomney.com – Elementary School

MikeHuckabee.com – Genius**

JoinRudy2008.com – High School

RonPaul2008.com – High School

When reading these results, keep in mind that half of America is below average at everything, always.

*which may explain the crying. Junior High can be a nightmare.

**if you hate evolution

When Product Accessories Become the Product

My new crocs jibbitz! 😀Originally uploaded by ::sämyii::

What happens when that cool new thing that you got suddenly becomes the cool new thing that everyone has? Trend Setters (god I hate that term) either move on to the next new thing or  redouble their efforts to bring personal ownership to their products. Creating an accessory culture around new products may prove to be a way to keep these early users engaged.

Steve Portigal has an interesting post on Crocs culture and the emergence of charms in Japan and the UK (see picture above). Apple has also inspired a ton of secondary markets for its products from the useful iPod Skins to the scary-but-true Taser/iPod holster that was displayed at CES.

My personal favorite are the iColour modifiers which allow you to take that boring old glowing Apple logo and modify it to your own liking, gaining the ire of your IT dept. at the same time.