iPhone Activism

A posting on Andrew Sullivan's blog about some ramifications of mobile devices such as the iPhone/iPod Touch. I agree 100%. I think a cool project would be to do some sort of study on how 'connected' users feel. At brunch today, my iPod Touch owning friend and I talked about different productivity apps we were using to achieve our goals. At the end of the conversation, we sorta blinked at each other and said, 'it's a computer.' And it's very personal. 

____

Julian Sanchez wonders about virtual picket lines:

...think ahead a couple years to when mobile devices at least as advanced as the current iPhone are as ubiquitous as cell phones.This makes physical environments potentially dense with information, whether through particular function-specific channels (Zagat reviews), socially salient tags (3 of your friends had a comment about this restaurant), aggregative filtering (a comment about this location was voted above your Digg threshold), or some combination thereof. The purpose of this won't necessarily be to facilitate activism -- people are more likely to want to look at reviews or know if there are better prices down the block. But it also means that political information can be embedded in a place without requiring a bunch of people with placards to spend their day marching around in front of a shop.

...the potential here is to drastically lower the information costs of consumer activism. Relatively few people are going to sit down and do detailed research about all the products they routinely buy. Many more, however, may be willing to whip out their phones and click a couple buttons. When the effort required to import political values into consumption decisions is dramatically reduced, the number of politically-conscious shoppers should increase significantly.

Shopping with an iPhone strikes me as a huge boon to both political and economic market efficiency.

My first curry

I've been really busy lately, which is a good thing. One of the things I did was make a curry using the recipe that was given to me by a friend of mine. It's for Chicken Saag, one of my favorite Indian dishes. It was a lot of fun to make, pretty simple in terms of preparation and tasted great. The Dutch Oven is perfect for stuff like curries, just adding to the list of why I bought it. 

Shopping for it was as much fun as making it. I went to Asia Market Corp (link below) on Mulberry Street in Chinatown, which is roughly 10 minutes away. That store is why I love living in NY and why I love downtown. They have a great selection of pan-Asian spices. I'm now prepared to make Indian and Thai food, my two favorite cuisines. This cooking thing is a blast.

Asia Market Corporation

71 1/2 Mulberry St, New York, NY

(212) 962-2020

Link:

<http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=safari&ie=UTF8&q=asian+market+10012&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&ei=2-aESfatCYjWNamHuesD&cid=16923390265584403020&li=lmd&ll=40.721177,-73.999357&spn=0,359.92301&z=14&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=40.716088,-73.999208&panoid=nnzjzUw4iSlC-HBU7FFR7A&cbp=12,297.1611929007516,,0,5>



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Jim Beam's 'The Girlfriend'

The creatives nailed this ad. This is what many men dream about when they describe the perfect girlfriend, even if they deny it. Notice that her English isn't that great which means there's not that much conversation going on. You need to check it out.

The YouTube comments were hysterical. Scores of guys agreeing and comparing their girlfriends to the above. Then came this one.

JozzyHBR: Hahaha, good luck with that fellas...

Sally Fields

I just finished watching Brothers & Sisters. I took me a while to get into this show but I'm starting to enjoy it now that the characters are more fully developed.

I must say, Sally Fields looks awesome. She's in great shape. There aren't many 60-something women who can do the 'tip tow' kiss, show off her butt and get away with it. 

New printer paradigm

This design (concept?) turns assumptions about printers on its' head. It uses statics to eliminate the need for the tray by curving the paper just enough for it to remain rigid. I'm also digging the cartridge as design element. Here's the link to the designer.

Hat tip [Unplugged]

Sweet concept clock

Hat tip [Unplugged]

Sharing and Caring

It seems as though all of my friends on Facebook are sending me and one another '25 Random Things About Me.' It's amazing how a very simple exercise can have such a dramatic impact. I've learned a lot about people that I knew but perhaps didn't know as well due to the nature of our connection – friends of friends, co-workers, people I met recently etc. It is also an interesting exercise to undertake.

I wish more stuff like this moved around the Facebook universe instead of the craplets that everyone seems to send. I love the idea of sending a digital stuffed teddy bear but paying for it is insane. 

South Park on the brain

I used to be a huge fan of South Park but got tired of the antics a few years ago. There's only so outrageous one can get before shock value is lost and South Park just seems to get more and more inane as ideas dry up.

One episode that has been on my mind – well the song more than the episode – is when the boys became a boy band with their hit single 'Finger bang.' That song echoed in my mind yesterday and in an effort to purge it, I am posting it here. Hopefully a karmic transfer will take place and it will echo in someone else's mind instead of mine.

Tag you're it. 

iPhone vs. Pre patents

Engadget did a pretty exhaustive analysis of what the iPhone patents really are and how Palm could respond with patents of their own. Great article.

Financial utilities

One thing that I did manage to do during my sleepless night was catch up on my blogs. It was time well spent. I ran across this blog post in the WSJ's Real Time Economics blog about the "new financial world order." 

The line that stuck out at me most was that this crisis will divide the financial community into two parts – financial utilities and financial risk takers. Now I was under the impression that things were divided in such a fashion anyway with investment banking and retail banking playing very different roles in our economy. But I digress.

The term financial utility stuck with me. I lived in London in the late 90s and the one institution that I marvelled over was the Post Office Savings Bank, which had been in existence in one form or another since 1861.  It was originally created to offer banking services to rural and impoverished customers. And to provide the government with a source of cheap capital. It has long since been privatized but the idea that a government institution provided banking services sounded strange to these 'free-market' ears. Oddly enough, the U.S. had a similar system, from 1911 to 1966. As one can imagine, this system was relentlessly attacked by private banks, who railed against government competing against the private sector. This article here in the NY Times from 1912 discusses this conflict.  

Now that most of the major banks in this country have been 'nationalized' in all but label, how will that change the way they interact with their customers? What changes will financial institutions need to make in order to regain the trust of their customer base? 

This brings me to the idea of illegibility that I've discussed before. It is impossible to have a conversation about banks without fees being mentioned. Part of the anger behind fees is how unpredictable they can be and how difficult it can be to avoid them. In other words, the fee structure is illegible. It will be interesting to see what changes in finance in the months to come. I have a few thoughts but I need to develop them further. 

One of those days

For some bizarre reason, I just couldn't sleep last night. I think I notched about three hours. It's not as though I'm worried about anything in particular. In fact, I had a great night hanging out with a friend of mine at our local. Maybe it was the wine. Regardless, very little sleep.

Of course, sleep deprivation does not go unpunished. My dog took 3x as long for his walk with nothing to show for it, so to speak. I dropped one half of an english muffin into the a pot soaking in the sink. My coffee maker spat coffee all over the counter. 

In the esteemed words of Pink – "I'm a hazard to myself / Don't let me get me"

Is the Palm Pre in danger?

The tech world is going nuts over a pretty broad patent that Apple JUST won [like to Google news... chose the one that suits] on multi-touch. It covers not only the iPhone but could also be applied to PCs, such as the latest in multi-touch goodness on the aluminum MacBook and MacBook Pro. How I am dying to buy one!

Palm and Apple have exchanged saber rattling with Palm convinced the patent app will not effect their phone and Apple intimating that they have the IP upper hand. It will be an interesting few months ahead. If Apple truly has a lock on multi-touch, it's over for not only Palm but others. 

Personally, I think we're going to see an entirely different paradigm from Apple this June with the introduction of Snow Leopard. I say this because the goal of Snow Leopard is optimization and system file size reduction. These are nice to have benefits for sure but only worth it if there's an end product that warrants it. Exciting times ahead!

Time Machine annoyance

So I'm a big fan of Time Machine [link to Apple site] the automated backup that's part of Mac OS X Leopard. I've never experienced a disk failure but I know so many people who have that it's worth the peace of mind that it offers. I actually purchased a Time Capsule, which is basically an Airport networking base station with an integrated server hard drive. It's mainly for backup but I do keep some stuff on the drive for safe keeping.

The automated aspect of Time Machine is great. However the process often slows down my workflow. Backups occur every hour. In theory that's great. In practice not so great. It takes about 20 - 30 minutes to complete a backup. This means my computer is always backing up. Since my 'landline' is a VoIP Skype phone, the constant backups interferes with my phone service and other forms of network traffic. It is not uncommon for me to have to wait while my browser catches up. I would love to set it to backup every other hour but I can't. 

I hope Snow Leopard, the next OS X, improves Time Machine's efficiency/controls. I don't want to switch it off but sometimes I have to in order to get stuff done. This defeats the purpose, I think. 

Cottage in a Day

Cottage in a Day sells green prefab structures of various sizes and applications. They call it Cottage in a Day because the structures can be assembled in a day [duh] in as little as five hours. I like the design and I especially love the emphasis on outdoor space; the exterior deck is almost as large as the interior living space. 

You can adjust the design to include or exclude facilities and kitchens, perfect for occasional rooms or office space away from a main house. You can even add a loft. The prices are reasonable; the smallest with a kitchen and bathroom is $56,000. 

Hat tip [PreFabCosm]

From bench to sofa

This intriguing design from Olivier Grégoire. This is an inflatable bench that converts to a sofa when you unzip the back. I'm not sure how comfortable it will be to sit on but I like the idea. Check out this French site for more pictures. 

Hat tip [Crib Candy]

Run screaming from the room

A curious thing has happened recently. I'm just tired of information. 

I have a bazillion RSS feeds that I keep an eye on – as you can probably see from this blog – and aside from a core few, I haven't been in the mood to check them. Part of the reason is that I am busier than I was when I started this blog. Thankfully. But I'm also overloaded, it seems. 

I'm not sure what the remedy is. I know I will eventually clear up the backlog. The last time this happened was when I was on a working vacation in Europe this summer. I wonder if my brain is trying to tell me something. 

Social networking traffic up in NY

In keeping with the theme that social networking traffic is being added by our current downtown, I call your attention to an article in Crain's NY Business. 

The article 'Jobless and lovelorn rush to network' mentioned that the professional site LinkedIn reported an 11% increase in NY area traffic, no doubt coinciding with the bloodletting that is taking place in the city's core industries.

Illegibility and empathy

The Futures Company – the rebranding of the combined Henley Center, Yankolovitch and Headlight Vision – has a email newsletter they publish throughout the year. The last issue of last year was titled 'Managing in a downturn.' In it, Will Galgey discussed a few key issues for brands to watch. One of them ties into a topic I blogged about a few weeks ago – empathy.

His point is that in a downturn, brands need to be outspoken in taking the consumer's side and be empathetic to their trials and tribulations. This means making their customer's priorities the brand's priority. If people are spending wisely, talk about how your product supports that. 

Of course, this effort extends past the marketing message. Many packaged goods companies have been caught with their finger on the scale, discretely increasing prices by packaging less for the same amount. Consumerist.com calls it the 'Shrink Ray' and has a long and growing archive of offenders. To me, this is a perfect example of brands acting in an illegible fashion; the brand's actions work against the customer in an opaque way. While I understand the motivation for these packaging machinations, actions like these can really weaken long-term trust in the brand.

Palm Pre and the Instinctive Web

One of the tech blogs that I follow is jkontherun.com run by James Kendrick. It's a great blog because although he's a gadget freak, he's also a pragmatic user first and foremost. The insights on using the device in his day to day personal and professional life is unique among the popular tech blogs. 

One of last week's article stood out. I know I've gone on record to say that Palm's impact on the market will be an upward climb in light of the iPhone. I may need to revise this stance as more about the Palm comes to life. JK's stance is the Pre will deliver the 'Instinctive Web' [blog post] in a way never seen before and more along the lines of 'Minority Report.' 

The Instinctive Web knows where you are and senses (or learns) what needs to happen before it takes place. One great example JK uses is if you are going to a meeting at 4pm, the Pre senses it is on your calendar and gathers all the relevant information automatically – wiki profiles, sales data, relevant contracts, etc. If you are late for a meeting, your phone's GPS estimates how far away you are, projects your ETA, and alerts the party you are meeting. 

How Palm is able to do this I am not sure but I imagine the rules behind it are relatively simple. If they are able to pull it off, it will revolutionize task management/GTD. 

I also wonder how Apple will answer this. One obstacle is Steve Jobs is a privacy freak. He added 'Private Browsing' to Safari early in the browser's history, putting a mainstream face on something that people added on after the fact. In the introduction to the iPhone 3G, he made sure to not that GPS is off unless switched on by users and it is done on a case-by-case basis. I actually appreciate not being tracked every minute, at least by GPS. 

Would I be willing to accept surveillance if the benefit is productivity nirvana? I imagine I will but I'm not entirely happy about it. 

Murphy bathroom

I like the idea for this bathroom. This design concept by Michael Trudgeon won the Bathroom Innovation Award 08. The housing masks an integrated water recycling and purifying unit. 

Green and gorgeous. This would be perfect for that Hong Kong apartment I wrote about last week. 

Park Slope's 9/11 on 12/16

It's been a nostalgic few days. I met with the Alumni director for my former middle/high school. I am going to be volunteering for them, with my first assignment being helping them activate involvement in the school.

One thing she mentioned was curious. She said in the 60's and 70's, Park Slope was like a war zone. I thought it was curious because I don't remember there being much blight when I went to the school in the late 70s early 80s. 

Thank goodness for Google. Turns out that around the corner from my school, a plane had fallen from the sky [blog article] on December 16, 1960. It was the result of a mid-air collision over Staten Island. It was a horrific scene; I can't imagine what that must have been like. Some have written about witnessing the experience. 

As a child I don't remember a memorial to the dead or anything for that matter. Even now, I couldn't tell that something so horrible had happened. It's been erased from memory. Maybe that's a good thing. 

Wow

Another crazy day. I have some cool posts coming up tomorrow. Stay tuned!

75% of adults 18-24 have a social networking profile

More social networking statistics here [Brian Solis]. I will discuss later. 

Brian Eno's Bloom iPhone music application

I'm amazed at the applications that are coming out for the iPhone in the music category. I talked about one of the RjDj early on in my blog. Then there's the Ocarina [developer site] an application that turns the phone into a recorder. Not only can you play music but you can listen to other users play their tunes around the world. My latest obsession is Brian Eno's Bloom [iTunes link] reviewed here by Stuart Dredge. With Bloom, you generate tones based on mood. Outstanding.

Are iPhone activities tasks?

I love 'Adaptive Path,' a blog run by a usability research firm. Having done some usability work, it's interesting to see how the discipline is changing.

Rachel Hinman wrote an article [link here] on an evolving theory that usability experts are going to have to tear up their task analysis model and embrace something more fuzzy. She believes the task model will give way to the possibility model. She cites three areas where iPhone interactions deviates away from simple tasks:

1) Interactions that accrue value over time. This group consists of services such as Facebook and Twitter, where the value in the application is less the application and more the interactions that it enables, whose value builds over time. 

2) Interactions that facilitate exploration. This group is made up of 'idle' apps such as Koi Pond and Attaining Zen – there's no task other than enjoying the experience of raking sand and playing with fish.

3) Interactions that sense intent. These applications are location aware and suggest interactions based on that location data. As an example, a to-do application that shows the grocery list when you are in the supermarket and office tasks when you are in the office. 

It's an interesting theory but I disagree her basic assumption that feeds into this theory – that mobile devices are not great platforms for accomplishing tasks. On the contrary, I believe mobile devices are actually better for many tasks that have traditionally lived on the desktop, such as scheduling, list management etc.

Human beings are task oriented, regardless of the sophistication of the task. In all the interactions she cites, there are tasks associated with them. 

1) In the first interaction, the task is staying connected to my friends, family and associates. It's not that different than sending an email to a friend or group of friends. 

2) In the second interaction, the task is entertainment, which may not seem like a task but to me it is. 

3) The third interaction is actually the best type of task management possible – one that senses where you are and suggests what tasks you should be doing. We all have lists for different locations and recognize how frustrating it is to go to a store and realize that you have forgotten your list.

For usability experts, what will need to change is how one tests tasks on a mobile device vs. the desktop. Because of space and time constraints, users are much less forgiving of an application that is designed poorly. Apple deserves credit for educating developers on the differences but there's so much they can do. 

I think this is an area for growth for usability experts. The App Store is loaded with hundreds if not thousands of applications that are just plain frustrating to use and poorly thought out. I look forward to seeing how they can be improved.

A picture paints two relationships

A lot of noise has been made about the relationship between President Obama and Michelle. Back in September, there was an article on Huffington Post by Kathlyn and Gary Hendricks about the Obama relationship, describing it as a merger of equals and postulating on the benefit that would bring to the office. 

This picture that I snapped from NBC is an illustration of that point. Laura hangs off Pres. Bush's arm in a more classic 'stand by your man' pose. Contrast that by the 'side by side' hand-holding of the Obamas. It will be interesting to see the role Michelle will play in the coming years. 

San Francisco Fog

San Francisco Fog
Originally uploaded by Wiggum03

San Francisco
Is haunted by a ghost
In the summertime

San Francisco fog is something that I miss on a daily basis. It's the fog that attracted me to the city in the first place. Over 10 years ago, on my first visit to the city, I marveled at how the fog oozed over the mountains, gobbling up whatever is in its path. Then like magic, it disappears. One thing that makes the city one of the most amazing places to be. 

Illegibility

I live in the shadow of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York's newest museum. It's an amazing architectural monument and has energized the neighborhood in ways I never imagined.

On Thursday night, I went to an event called 'Night School.' The lecture was given by the Raqs Media Collective, an Indian trio that explores history, philosophy, research and theory. The topic of Thursdays lecture was illegibility, stammering and shadows. It was a bit dry in spots and I didn't understand everything but it was thought provoking. 

One thing that I latched onto is the term of illegible applied to actions rather than just words. I need to research the case they cited. If anyone knows it, please let me know. The case pitted Native Americans against a logging concern. In the case, the chief gave a vivid oral history of the land in an attempt to spare it from being logged. The judge ruled against the tribe on the grounds that the history was oral and as such impermissible as evidence. Their history was illegible. 

I wonder if one can use the term in consumer research. I began to think about the actions of brands in relation to their customers and applying the term - illegible - to situations where there is a disconnect between the brand's behavior and consumer expectations. When a brand behaves in a manner customers do not understand or  cannot 'read,' its' behavior is illegible or opaque. 

This is just a starting thought but I will explore this topic further in the months ahead. 

44

I watched the President Obama's swearing in ceremony. For all of the hype, the actual deed is rather dull and he kinda flubbed the words.

I haven't spent a lot of time talking politics in this blog but it is an amazing day in our history. I certainly never thought I would see the day an African American leads this nation. Expectations are high; I hope he manages to be better than we thought possible. 

Oh to be in Washington tonight. What a party.

Midlife

The New Year is always bittersweet for me because it counts down two months to the date of my next birthday. I'll be 40 this year and I'm in the midst of a full-blown midlife crisis. Since few people read this blog nowadays, it's not that big of a deal to pour my soul out.

Hitting 40 is like a rude awakening. Time slaps you in the face and says – wake up. You are not a child anymore. It's hard to wake up though. Being young and cute is just so much more fun. But all good things must come to an end. And I don't mind the end of childhood, at the end of the day. I can't say it was always fun but it was certainly an experience. 

I've managed to remain single for much of my life. Not because I haven't wanted to be in a relationship but rather I wanted to explore, question and confirm. Explore the world on my terms and see the best and worst it has to offer. Question preconceived notions and firm beliefs. Some of them have been proven to be valid and others have proven to be dismissible. And confirm the genuine goodness that exists in all of us.

I've sat across from many different people in cities throughout the country and in parts of the world. Good ideas and good insights can come from the most unexpected places and it never ceases to amaze me. 

As I speed towards the next 40, I want to continue to do what I have always done. Never stop learning. Never stop questioning. And when faced with two paths, chose the optimistic one. On March 1, I'll raise my glass to a life explored. I hope you do the same on my behalf. 

Batmobile lives

This concept Cadillac runs on nuclear power – Thorium fuel cells to be exact. It's also designed to be as maintenance free as possible. What I love most about this concept is the wide front-end, the sleek cockpit and the way the sides taper just before the back tires. 

Hat tip [Kempt]

Font joy - Hair and Aging

I can't read it but this Chinese font is beautiful. The strokes appear to be rendered with strands of hair. 

Hat tip [typography served]

Fantastic multi-use apartment in Hong Kong

If you haven't seen this, you must check out an article from last week's NYT on a Hong Kong architect's multi-purpose apartment. It's only 344 (!) square feet. He uses sliding walls and light mobile furniture to create 24 different configurations – from spa room with a full bath to dining room to kitchen to media center. What an amazing job. It's also the best use of those cool sliding bookshelves I remember from my corporate days.

What I love about living in a small space is the creative problem solving. You start from the main objective – I want to be able to work, relax and entertain. And then work backwards. You also have to be on the hunt for things that can play multiple roles. This is definitely one of the file.

Hat tip [NY Times]

Wood mosaic floor

Wow I have never seen this before but what a great idea. This ranks up there with the leather belt ties I showcased in early December. 

Hat tip [Crib Candy]

Cool small space workstation

Speaks for itself

Hat tip [Unplugged]

Deck made for entertaining

Very cool deck in LA. Love the use of the wood and the shading. O2BNLA.

hat tip [Arch Daily]

Minimalist kitchen

Supposedly this is a minimalist kitchen. I guess it is in that the forms are highly simplified. It looks interesting but I don't think it's something I would take on. But it's noteworthy. 

Hat tip [Crib Candy]

Phew!

Where did the day go? I've been running around like a madman today and still a lot to do. Lots of material tomorrow.

Ring cam

If they manage to reduce today's digital cameras down to ring size and still offer 1 billion megapixels, sign me up. 

It's a very cool idea. Hope someone is able to bring it to market. 

Hat tip [Design Spotter]

TDA House

The top floor of this Oaxaca, Mexico house is basically an open platform with three hammocks attached to the ceiling. This affords fantastic views of the water. I also love the openness of the bedrooms, with the folding doors that push off to one side. Click on the link for more pictures of this great space. 

Hat tip [Architecture Daily]

Welcome Chair by Abhijeet Kumar

I love the transparency of this chair. Perfect for a small space. 

Hat tip [Industrial Design Served]

In defense of the 'warm up'

Occasionally, researchers face pressure from clients to 'get to it' and shrink the time at the beginning of every research conversation used to get to know the respondents better. 

However taking an interest in one's subject improves their receptivity to whatever is being discussed, be that research or telemarketing. A recent study in U Chicago's Journal of Consumer Research found that even asking the simple question of 'How is your day going?' softens up the subject. According to the study's authors, questions like these reduce "self-control [and] renders consumers vulnerable to persuasion ploys foisted upon them by influence agents." In other words, people are more interested in what you have to say if you show some interest in them as a person.  

This project studied telemarketing but the same applies in research. I know that when I need to rush through the warm-up for one reason or another, as hard as I may try, the interaction with the participant is never as close and therefore the data is never as good. Thankfully this doesn't happen often.

Hat tip [Science Daily]

Drivers, hold on to your wallets

A new study confirms what many have believed. When local government experiences a drop in revenue, traffic citations increase. The correlation was confirmed thanks to the work of Thomas Garrett of the St. Louis Fed and Gary Wagner of U Arkansas/Little Rock. 

They studied 14 years of traffic citation data in North Carolina. They noticed that "a one percentage point decrease in last year's local government revenue results in roughly a 0.32 percentage point increase in the number of traffic tickets in the following year." 

It's well known that municipalities throughout the US are experiencing a revenue shortfall, thanks to the triple whammy of falling asset prices and the corresponding property tax revenue reduction, increased demand for social services, and as businesses fail, reduced corporate tax revenue. It will be interesting to see the response of the citizenry if the correlation is too closely linked. 

Hat tip [Innovations Report]

Tomorrow's posts

I've been in serious land for the last few days. I will be combing through my design blogs tomorrow and try to add some levity.

'Trism' connection

In researching my article on the Palm Pre – still hate the name – I ran into someone unexpected. When I lived in San Francisco, I rowed with the guy behind an outstanding game, Trism [link to developer page] To say it's sizzling hot is an understatement. He got his app out the gate at the opening of the App Store last June and it's been a hot seller ever since. Steve's a good hearted guy and to say that I'm happy for him is an understatement. 

I was most interested in the process, because I find stuff like that fascinating. He knew the iPhone would be big and he wanted to strike right at the opening. He managed to get his hands on an SDK early. He had his core idea, which was refined with the help of a long-suffering friend with whom he talked about it constantly. All in all it took about 4 months from concept to App Store appearance. 

Timing has something to do with his success but it's also a quality game, which is why it is selling as strongly as it is. The graphics and sounds are crisp and make sense. It's addictive. A round can last as little or as long as you want, which is perfect for the busy professional with a couple of minutes to spare. Literally, a couple. That was his target. What I like most about the game is the immense amount of thought that went into the tutorial. The game coaches you through the game play, including obstacles you will face and how to deal with them. The game is well worth the money.

Empty

The streets of Soho and Nolita are empty. At noon. On a Tuesday. 

Restaurants that were packed to the gills just a few weeks before have two diners tops. 

Honestly it feels like seven in the morning rather than the height of noon. 

I hope this deadly stillness won't continue.

Online retailing is a drop in the bucket of US retailing

You know, for all the hype about online sales and how important it is, this number really reminded me that it's easy to live in a reality distortion field. Almost everyone I know shops online but apparently this activity is not universal. Just over 3% of total retail sales in the US are made online. 

It does make sense to me though. When I talk to consumers, I'm still surprised by how many people refuse to shop online, usually because of security fears.

Of course this data is in aggregate and is skewed by categories like white goods and automotive. And some categories are far more ecommerce focused than others. It's still a humbling number, though.

Getting 'served' via Facebook

I'm doing a lot of social media research today and I've come across an interesting article. A judge in Australia allowed legal papers to be served to a defendant through Facebook. The defendant was proving difficult to reach and since the person in question was Facebook friends with others in the trial, the judge allowed it to happen.

There are all sorts of legal issues standing in the way of this being standard practice but it's an interesting phenomena. In a study that I completed recently on consumer banking, fear of identity theft was one of consumer's top concerns. Given the mass appeal of Facebook, I wondered if Facebook could play the role of authenticator when circumstances warrant it. 

As an example, one could use one's Facebook login to enter their bank site and authenticate transactions online and offline. Given that Facebook is an extension of one's person, versus an abstraction of one's person, why not. I do hope security gets beefed up significantly before we go in this direction. Also this be something that's standardized, not an adhoc situation created by random judges like this one. 

Hat tip [All Facebook]

Everybody's cooking

Seems as though I'm not the only one hitting the recipe sites and cooking more frequently. 

EMarketer reported today that traffic to recipe sites was up 10% in 2008. One of the great things about sites like AllReceipes.com and other similar sites is the ability to enter in core ingredients and have the site spit out recipes. The site has noticed an increase in people searching for recipes that use fewer ingredients or use cheaper cuts of meat. One theory is people are buying whatever is on sale and then using the sites to find uses for their purchases. 

Fascinating data points in the most documented recession ever. 

Hat tip [eMarketer]

Cell phone television

Soon we'll be able to watch television on our cell phones. The major networks – ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX – will be launching the service in 22 cities, with NY being the first at the end of the year. LG and Samsung will be leading the charge to bring the service to their handsets. This isn't surprising since Koreans have had TV on their cell phones for years so the two companies have perfected the convergence in their local market. 

I can see it for sports and other live events where time is critical and one is not likely to watch it later. Advertisers will love it. But since you can download or view just about anything whenever you want, its' usefulness and appeal seems limited to me. I started dabbling in live TV on my phone years ago but found it's hard to find something you want to watch if you just have a spare moment. YouTube is more entertaining. 

Hat tip [WARC and TMCNews]

Total Drama Island

I once worked on stuff geared for Tweens (11-14) stuff and got hooked on kids entertainment. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Truth is I've always been a big animation fan – from Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry to the Simpsons. My current favorites are Family Guy and American Dad. Seth MacFarlane is a mastermind. 

On the kids side, I've seen a few shows that are fun – Angry Beavers on Nick, awesome – but now I have a new obsession. Total Drama Island on Cartoon Network, a spoof of Survivor-type reality shows. The clip is the opening sequence and gives you just a taste of the wit in this show. 

What is great about the show is the 'dress down' of various reality show and teen drama stereotypes. Think Breakfast Club meets Real World meets Survivor. Fun show. I've only seen a few of them but look forward to seeing them all.

And now, a break for puppies

Blogger

GRRRRRR. I love this blogging thing but Blogger, I don't love. The most annoying thing about it is text formatting. I never know what it's going to look like and sometimes it mucks things up. How can I change this???

Palm Pre Thoughts

Last night I watched the Palm Pre introductory keynote address. In a nutshell, well done Palm. I haven't interacted with the device – note to self, I'm going to Vegas next year – but based on the address and other reviews, I think it will do well. Will it knock the iPhone off its' throne? I don't think so but it is certainly a better #2 than Blackberry's Storm. 

Overall thoughts

Overall, I think Palm did a great job of addressing many of the short-comings of the iPhone. However, so many of the improvements are borrowed from Mac OS or elements from the iPhone, I wonder how unique they will be once Apple addresses these short-comings in typical Apple fashion. If anything, WebOS gives me faith that Apple can address them easily. 

Palm and Apple have very different objectives so it's important to acknowledge where they will never meet. Let's face it. The iPhone/iPod Touch are both trojan horses into Mac land. It's a handheld device that runs the primary Mac OS, Leopard. Programming for the iPhone is meant to be similar to programming for Leopard, to give developers an incentive to take on both platforms. Therefore Apple will never let users stray too far from their computers, and preferably their Macs. 

Palm wants to rid the world of 'legacy' desktop/laptops by offering a platform that focuses on the 'cloud'. To me, the Pre is just the handheld version of Web OS. I am sure there will be a netbook version and maybe even a tablet version. If they are successful, Web OS could be a strong competitive OS that will shake the foundations of the PC market in a way even Leopard hasn't. Interesting times ahead.

A note on the address itself. Rubenstein makes a poor Steve Jobs; his delivery was wooden and often cringe worthy. Ed Culligan did a much better job at being relaxed and enthusiastic, energizing the crowd. I also think Palm was expecting a lot more visceral enthusiasm from the audience than they received. I would say at least half of the jokes didn't land well if at all. Areas where they expected oooohs and ahhhs received none. 

Part of the problem is Palm spent a lot of time linking the Pre/Web OS with previous Palms and cooing about how 'new' the paradigm was. Yet Web OS and the Pre feels so familiar. It borrows from  Mac OS X – Spaces and the Dock, to name a couple. It also borrows from the iPhone – curved back, accelerometer, single hardware button, touch/gestures, and the Card metaphor. An example of the Card metaphor is flicking through 'cards' of applications or different Safari pages appear to be individual cards. So on the face of it, the Palm Pre/Web OS feels like a Apple device, just not from Apple. 

Technology Review

I LOVE my iPhone, as I am sure is obvious, but there are a few areas that get on my nerves at times. This list is long but keep in mind I've been using this thing from the beginning. None of them detract from the excitement of using the device but they certainly ding certain experiences. 

• Single task orientation: I'm often doing a few things at once yet the iPhone can only do one thing at a time. Taking an example from yesterday, using the clock as a kitchen timer, using the Remote app to control my Apple TV, and using a recipe I stored in Evernote, a note keeping application. Plus, every time I open an app, it starts from scratch, wasting time. 
• Messaging interrupts other functions: Getting phone calls in the middle of a game often quits the game. Texts appear out of no where and it's hard to remember to return to them once you've dismissed them. 
• Weak tasks functionality: Sometimes I wonder if the folks at Apple use tasks to get their work done because the native task management both iCal and the iPhone suck at it. Why can't I sync and interact with To-Dos in iCal and Mail.app? Why doesn't the iPhone have a call database where it captures and allows me to work with whom I've called and who calls me? GTD is difficult because there's a separation between my calendar and my tasks and they are supposed to be linked. 
• No cut & paste: I should not need to use my memory to re-enter an address that someone sends me in a text or an email. Even without cut & paste, Leopard has data detectors that recognize time and place information that should be brought over to the iPhone. 
  
• Keyboard foibles: I don't hate the keyboard and find it reasonably easy to use. However one thing that annoys me is how much space it takes up. Three or four lines on a screen so narrow is sometimes only two sentences and it's not easy to scroll up.
• Weak email client: It's better than it used to be but the lack of a unified inbox slows things down.
• Fixed memory: This is the main reason why the iPhone does not have video capture. I'm sure the limitations on removable media are linked to restrictions from the music/video industry. Now that DRM is being stripped from the iTunes store, this situation will hopefully change. 
• No flash on the camera – most camera phone flashs are crap but something is better than nothing
• Weak phone / Network: The best 3G reception I've had was in flat uncrowded Minneapolis. It rarely works in my apartment and works intermittently throughout swaths of NYC. I hope the recent bandwidth switch for EDGE will improve things, albiet on the backs of EDGE users.
• Mobile Safari: I love how it renders pages but it's unstable. Sometimes it quits after a few minutes.

Palm addressed many of these, in some ways blowing the doors off the iPhone. 

• Unified messaging: Messaging is focused on the person not the service. These leads to seamless conversations: start in IM > move to Text > jump to voice > back to Text > back to IM. Most importantly, one has a record of all of your interactions, which the average businessperson needs. 
  • Con: It's easier to forget which address one is using, increasing the likelihood you send something to someone you don't want to send or use an address you don't want to use. For example, a celebrity posts sex pix to  Facebook instead of sending it to the gal in question via email.
• Better PIM functionality: The Pre retains Palm strengths in terms of calendar management – especially the week at a glance view and the ability to press a button to switch to another calendar vs. sliding back and forth. I'm sure task management is also as strong as previous Palms
• Fewer interruptions: The gesture bar and display at the bottom doesn't interrupt you with alerts as on the iPhone. Plus the windows resize to make critical data important, so you don't lose your flow just because a call comes in. 
• Sprint network: more consistent data connection than AT&T
• Power Puck: a totally rad way to charge your device – just set it on this hockey puck looking thing. Most awesome thing I've seen in power/cable management.
  
• Universal Search: you just start typing and appropriate stuff shows up, even if that means a Google search. Time saver.
• Even easier to program than the iPhone: iPhone webapps failed because the data network couldn't deliver a constant enough connection to make 'cloud' data easy to access. Palm fixes that using a more consistent data network and an auto-save function that saves your data from 'hiccups' like a lost connection. It may also be easier for developers to monetize their applications through advertising, something the iPhone isn't that good at.
• Cut & Paste: Nuff said

In spite of these competitive threats, I still believe Apple will retain the lead. 

• Apple Stores: Sprint is gearing itself up to be the Apple Store for the Palm but I doubt they will be able to deliver the product story as well as the folks that work at the Apple Store. Plus there will be fewer opportunities to cross sell products that adds to Palm's bottom line, namely a Mac
• iTunes Store: It's the number one retailer of music and video, in spite of the competition. The removal of DRM will make it easier for others to compete but it's still the first place people go for music thanks to the iPod user base. Will people break for Amazon and abandon iTunes?
• Penetration: there are a lot of iPhones and iPod Touches out there, which means a huge global customer base for  applications. As of December, 300 million applications have been downloaded.  People are making millions from iPhone apps. In researching this point, I discovered someone I know personally. 
• First to market: There are over 10,000 applications available and more in development. That's a huge lead.
• Economies of scale for a global domination: Say what you want about a soft keyboard, it makes it easy for one to sell one or two SKUs around the world with simple software localization. This is especially important in critical markets that do not use Roman alphabets, namely Japan, China, India, Korea and Russia.
• Multilingual capapilities: Related to the switchable keyboard, sometimes people speak more than one language or come from one place but live in another. Shocking. Being able to switch from English to your native keyboard and language and then back to English is really helpful. 
• The iPhone is out now: While the Palm announcement showed a concrete device, there are many unknowns, including cost and availability. Many of the UI foibles on the iPhone/Touch outlined above can be addressed with a single software update, especially multi-tasking. Judging by their Apple's own schedule, June is iPhone month and a hardware update could be imminent, which could stop Palm's momentum. 
• Sprint: The company has the worst customer service of the big three networks and lost over 3 million customers in the first three quarters of 2008. Probably most of them flocked to AT&T. Sprint did a mea culpa in the keynote but it remains to be seen if they have improved things enough to retain the customers they have much less attract new ones. 

So all in all, I think great things will come from this announcement. The legions of Apple haters will have a competent device to obsess over. Palm fans will find redemption in their loyalty. Apple gets a solid competitor and be forced to up their game even more. Blackberry will have another whip cracking on their backs and get to work on improving the woeful Storm. And Microsoft will have just another line shining on how much work Windows Mobile truly needs.

Competition is a wonderful thing. 

Robot, Fetch that Vodka

I've been meaning to do a post on robots and this post is the start of several on the topic. It's a topic close to my heart because my Mom has MS and is beginning to have trouble with certain tasks. I would love her to have a service dog but the waiting list for one is between five to seven years and it takes two years to train one. Too long. But what about a service robot?

If you have a disability, it's the basics that you have problems handling – stuff like picking things up, putting things down, and fetching things from across the room. Georgia Tech is working with dog trainers to duplicate eight to ten core functions that dogs currently handle. Rather than voice commands, the user points a laser at the object he or she wants the robot to handle. 

This technology is the perfect segue to the robot servant à la Rosie on the Jetsons. An all-singing all-dancing robot would be great but advancements in robotics tend to focus on specific functions, which is easier to program and build. If it's possible to construct a helper robot that duplicates the core functions of a service dog, more people will get the help they need. 

Hopefully the fruits of their labor will be available sooner than later. In the meantime, Mom's on the list. 

Hat tip [Tom and the Innovation Report]

Princess of NYE on her throne

Queen of NYE on her throne
Originally uploaded by mitchsfo

A friend and I went to Double Crown for New Year's Eve. It was a total trip. They cleared out all of the furniture and decorated the place along the lines of the Imperial Britain's Indian Raj. Tons of fun.

As we neared midnight, some Indian musicians started playing and two female servers were placed in chairs and hoisted above the crowd, thanks to the efforts of some long-suffering male servers.

The iPhone is flash-free so most of the pictures I snapped were grainy and dark. But I did manage to capture this picture, illuminated by someone else's flash. There's something to be said for spontaneity and taking a lot of pictures. 

The Geek uses his hands

Everyone that knows me well knows how much of a geek I can be. Hell just looking at this blog, nearly half of the entries are about technology in some way. 

However, as I detailed in an earlier post – The Butcher, the Baker – I'm beginning to spend more time on manual pursuits, namely cooking and DIY. I ran into an interesting dilemma that I wanted to discuss. 

This all started with the instructions for the Sprinkles cupcake recipe. The instructions assumed the presence of an electric mixer. It's probably a safe bet that the majority of cooks have one. I don't. So I had three choices – 1) buy one, 2) borrow one and 3) do without. I investigated option one but just didn't want to spend the money and have no space to store it. Option two was a dead end since no one I asked had a mixer; most of my friends don't cook or don't do a lot of baking. 

I went with option 3 – do without. I arrived there thanks to swift kick in the pants from a friend of mine. She said, and I'm paraphrasing, "A mixer? Just use a whisk! You're a strong healthy boy. That's how my Mom did it."

I reflected upon that. When faced with a problem, I'll usually take the tech path first and then circle back to the non-tech solution. Not using technology – and mixers aren't exactly the cutting edge of technology – seemed strange. How would I know when the batter is done if there's no indicator light or warning signal? Yes I'm sick and need help. Nevertheless I powered through it. To be sure, mixing by hand is a lot of work. But I turned on one of my favorite audio podcasts – Design and Architecture by KCRW's Frances Anderton – and wisked away. The most interesting thing is I knew when it was done. The instructions helped since they described the state it should be in when done. But it felt great to see for myself – yep, good job. 

Judging by my friends' reactions to the cupcakes, option three was the right one. My luddite conversion is underway. 

Are you a Rocker, a Minimalist or a Dandy?

One of the great things about living next to Soho is the ability to shop its gorgeous streetscape early in the day before the madness begins. It's especially gratifying in January when the tourists throngs are sparse, the service is high and the prices are low. 

I wandered into three of my favorite menswear stores to look for my perfect pair of casual everyday shoes. In Soho I went to J. Lindberg, John Varvatos and on lower 5th Avenue, Paul Smith; I had to be in the Union Square area for something else. Each experience offered something different with some more successful than others.

It seems as though every retailer these days is selling a big idea that extends past their category. Perfect case in point, Anthopologie, the womenswear and home goods retailer that sells dresses, dishes and children's coloring books alongside one another. Paul Smith was the most similar to this experience. The clothes are always amazing in that store but equally as interesting were the books, furniture and other goods that captures the spirit of Paul Smith – the eccentric English gentleman. I have my eye on a pair of sneakers there but I also found a set of plates that I liked; one of them would look great on my media shelf. I wanted to buy pretty much everything at Paul Smith. Hopefully one day my budget will allow that to happen. 

J. Lindberg was the most disappointing of the three. I love his clothes – great tailoring and fabrics. But the store itself is kinda boring and nondescript. The products came off a lot more junky and I didn't get a sense for what J. Lindberg stands for. Even the price points were a little all over the place. To me, Tretorn does a better job of communicating stylish Swedish minimalism. The experience hasn't soured me on J. Lindberg but in such a competitive retail environment, the store needs thinning out and smarting up. 

John Varvatos rocks, in more ways than one. The brand is all about rock-and-roll – well, successful rock-and-rollers not garage bandmembers – and you see it infused everywhere. Iggy Pop leaps off the wall. Mini stage-lights shine down on glossy jeans, furry jackets and quality shoes that manage to look old and new. There isn't much curation; the emphasis is on the clothes. In many ways, Varvatos speaks for the American Dandy, rooted in music and a bit rough around the edges. 

I want to check out his new store closer to me in the old CBGBs. That space has special memories for me. In college, I saw Human League there with a friend of mine; it was one of my first concerts. Great times. From what I've seen, he did a great job of converting the space. He also has more room to add some curation to the mix. Look forward to seeing what's important to John Varvatos.

Watched the Apple Keynote

I'm sick at the moment – boo hiss. I've been using this downtime to catch up with my favorite company and watch the keynote address, as I always do. If I had known this one was to have been the last one, I would have made an effort to go and see it live. Ah well. End of an era.

For what it's worth, stylistically, Phil Schiller did a great job. He managed to be informed, enthusiastic and most of all natural. These are the three things that Steve Jobs brought to the Keynote. Of course rehearsing matters most. I am in the middle of watching the Palm presentation and they have ways to go in that department. 

With the exception of the iPhone announcements, I seem to go in a cycle with the Keynote. If it's software, I'm underwhelmed at the announcements, particularly as reported by the tech press. Then I watch the Keynote and get excited. Invariably I find something in the announcements that makes me feel as though Apple reads my mind. 

Case in point, there are two new 'smart' features in iPhone 09 that excite me because they mimic and streamline my own processes – Faces and Places. I have smart folders for important people in my life as well as folders for the places that I go. This is partially automated but still requires a bit of work. 

Faces uses face recognition technology to create a smart folder for a particular person. So with a little bit of help at the start, you can see all of the pictures of your Mom, girlfriend/boyfriend, best friends etc. It's truly amazing and I know the technology behind it will extend to other things. 

Places uses geo-tag information to separate pictures by location. The inclusion of GPS technology into phones and cameras means that you can capture where you took a picture. Places uses that data to automatically combine pictures taken in the same location. You can also manually designate a location.

These two technologies will streamline the organization of my pictures and make it easier to include location data in things like those cool books you can print through iPhoto etc. Even cooler, the face recognition data travels with any uploads to Flickr and Facebook. And if someone else tags people in the picture, that data travels back to iPhoto. Amazing. 

I'll be picking up a copy of the next iLife suite as soon as its available so I'll report more on this in the months to come. I also have some good things to say about the iWork suite, which is finally powerful enough to replace the Office suite in many circumstances. More on that in another post. 

Mac 4 Business

One of the biggest mantras in the Windows vs. Mac battle is the idea that PCs are better for business. I agree there is more specialized software available on Windows but the gap is shrinking. 

In exploring the latest iWork, I stumbled upon a page on Apple.com devoted to illustrating how businesses are using the Mac successfully. I'm sure this effort is known in some circles but it's quite stealth. And well done!

Song of the Day - Long Distance Call by Phoenix

I love this song and have been playing it a lot lately. The guitar riff is lively and almost Oasis like. My favorite part is the end. It builds to an energetic high then drops to almost a whisper. Masterful.

I know these guys have their start in a more groovy sound and I look forward to exploring more of that. 

iTunes link 

Sony Vaio P

Some of you may not know about a new category of devices that is taking the world by storm. Formerly called the netbook – I say formally because Psion (remember them) has issued cease and desist letters on the term because of a product called netBook introduced years ago – this class of device is basically a light and small laptop that is mainly for internet applications. They tend to run Windows XP or custom Linux configurations. And they cost roughly $500, sometimes more and often less. This device class has sold roughly 5 million units to date and is where much of the growth in the PC market has been sourced. It started with a $200 Eee PC and has mushroomed since then. 

The great thing about these devices is their size and weight – 2/3rd to half the size of normal laptops and often under 2 lbs. For the road warrior, these two things are a Godsend. At least in theory. In practice, these devices can be frustrating due to their tiny keyboards and small screens. It's difficult to work on them for more than a few hours. But as a temporary laptop/desktop replacement, they are great. I've been tempted to pick one up; my MacBook is one of the older ones and is heavy, weighing in at 5.5 lbs.

Originally the domain of less-than-mainstream manufacturers – Asus and Acer being the market leaders – the biggies have noticed the action and are jumping in. Dell and HP have successfully blurred the line between laptop and netbook by offering more laptop-ish screens and wider keyboards. 

The device above is Sony's new Vaio P. It's gorgeous and I bet it will be quite successful. Although it runs Windows Vista, they have added a front-end application to ease navigation. They have 'solved' two problems – the screen has typical Sony clarity and resolution, decreasing eye strain. The keyboard is almost full-size, meaning one can work on it for a decent length of time without finger cramps. The battery life is impressive, roughly 4 hours. But it's pricey for netbook, starting at $900. 

I will keep an eye on it. 

I love the new MacBooks and will likely get one in a few months as my current one is getting long in the tooth. BUT I really want something like this because it travels better. 

Fat cars

I love this sculpture by Erwin Wurm. I could make all sorts of comments but I'll simply say – the car matches many of its occupants.  

Hat tip [geekologie]

Finally a cool small HD video camera (not in this color though)

Sony has come out with the camera I've been waiting for – the MHS-PM1 Webbie HD Camera. I hate the name. It's designed to make it easier to post garbage onto YouTube in stunning quality. It's also a 5MP still camera, which is awesome. It comes in three colors – silver, purple and the mildly okay orange shown here. All this for $169!

I know that there are other offerings out there, namely the very popular Flip camera. From an industrial design standpoint, the Flip is not something I want to carry around. Honestly, it looks gross to me.

The Sony cam is cool because it comes a popular Sony invention, the rotating lens. That makes it easy to film your subject and then flip the lens towards you for color commentary. 

I will be picking one up as soon as it is introduced. Shop-alongs will never be the same. 

First post - Gorgeous Thinness

Wow this LG 15" OLED display is incredibly thin and incredibly bright. 

Coming out this summer. 

I hope the price points for OLED aren't insane Holiday 2009. 

Hat Tip [Engadget]

Geek overload

CES is this week and it's more difficult to stay on top of everything since I'm feeling under the weather. I'll be sure to go through them eventually and cherry-pick the ones that I find most interesting. 

So far, I've seen a lot of incremental improvements but nothing revolutionary. I have also seen some design improvements, most notably from Samsung. Look forward to seeing what they announced. 

Getting sick

My posts may be shorter and more sporadic in the days to come. I feel as though I'm coming down with that awful bug that's floating around and ravaging my friends. I sure as hell hope not.

Where do you get your news?

Read an interesting article on WARC.com that cites a Pew study regarding where Americans get their news. Of the 1000 pollled, 40% get their news on the web. 24% state that the net is their primary news source. 

I would have to include myself in that 24%. I've never liked TV news and by the time the news comes on, I pretty much know what's happening anyway. When I first moved to NY, I had a NY Times subscription but the paper just piled up so I cancelled it. 

What I really want is a full-color thinner Kindle device that automatically delivers my news in the morning. I'd be willing to pay for it. I'm sure it's around the corner. 

Hat tip [WARC.com]

Macworld

So I'm one of those geeks that actually watches the Keynote, as I think I've mentioned here. It's on my list of things to watch but I'm not that excited. To be honest, I was disappointed in the announcements. 

Don't get me wrong. I love software, obviously. And I do use iWork and iLife suites and look forward to the enhancements. But I was expecting something new and was sorely disappointed. 

I  thought Apple have a gangbusters MacWorld, this being the last one. Instead they decided to play it safe. BORING!

How the yellow football line is drawn

Great video on Gizmodo that explains how they construct the yellow line in football that shows how much yardage the offensive team needs. Really interesting. 

The butcher the baker

I haven't spoken much about the New Year. I have a lot in store for the year, some of which will be detailed here. 

In 2009, I'm [re]connecting with my domestic and DIY self thanks to a number of personal projects that are on the docket. 

My television seems to be conspiring against me since it's always on the DIY channel, even when I could have sworn I changed it. I'm really enjoying Deconstruction with Matt Blashaw. I'm new to all of this and his show really illustrates how materials work, which ones are the best and why. It's very helpful and reinforces a 'penny wise pound foolish' ethic that I'll be keeping in mind. Plus the show has just enough 'guy silliness' to make it fun. Every show has at least one segment where the material in question gets set alit, dropped, smashed, flung and shot at. Jackass, staring Pell Windows. And I feel very Beevis as I hear myself say – woah, that was cool. 

One of my resolutions from roughly the middle of Q4 has been to cook more frequently. It's healthier, more economical and is a rewarding process. At least in theory. In practice the first and second are optional and the third is debatable when the dish doesn't turn out well. 

It all started with preparing seasoned uncooked dishes from Fresh Direct. Now I want to cook my own stuff. At my local Bed Bath, I recently purchased a Dutch oven [cast-iron pot] and a panini maker/grill to broaden my meal selection.

I have resolved to cook an entrée meal at least three times a week and have leftovers to fill in at least a few of the remaining meals. I'm starting with simple recipes that have short ingredient lists, larder stocking basics, fast prep time and minimal pot watching. 

One thing about these old recipes. They sure use a lot of butter. I'll be looking for lighter versions but at least I know the benchmark. Besides, it's a nice guilty pleasure.

Anyway, so far so good. Just made some Red Velvet cakes using a mix from the infamous Sprinkles. It was a gift from a friend of mine. Yum. But I have a lot of excess frosting. There's no way I am going to put as much frosting on the cupcake shown here. 

Zappappointment

I've been on the hunt for a pair of casual kicks, dressy enough to wear in a decent bar but comfortable enough to run errands in them. I've been looking for months and I haven't been able to find anything that I like. It's driving me nuts. The worst part about it is that I had found the perfect pair of kicks last year but wore them out. 

It may come as a surprise to many of you but I don't like shopping all that much, especially during the holidays when everything is so crowded. I shop tactically, usually when I need something specific. Which is why I have found searching for these shoes so annoying. I have purchased stuff but nothing I've really been satisfied with. Too casual, too dark, not comfortable enough, not stylish enough, doesn't fit well etc etc etc. 

After visiting a few of the usual suspects – Nike, Puma, random shoe stores – I decided to try Zappos. I've heard nothing but awesome things from the blogsphere about them so thought why not. They have an incredible selection so I assumed that I would be able to find SOMETHING that I liked. Well, Zappos is great if you know exactly what you are looking for, including some detail. For the browser, it's a lot of work. 

• The site has always felt cluttered to me. So much so that I have abandoned carts because I never feel sure that I've seen everything that I could have and started shopping in a more edited space.  
• There's a lot of information that I wish I could turn off. 
• It's difficult to slice/dice the selection in a way to cross categories other than having to sift through dozens and dozens of shoes. 
  
• For some reason, the mannequins creep me out. 
  

I would love to...

• Include lifestyle categories. I think it would be easier to navigate the selection if the categories were more customer centric. This could be user-generated by asking for what occasions did they buy their shoes. As an example, Casual Fridays and Dinner with Friends. That also makes it easier to merchandize the other products Zappos sells now. 
  
• Build in a way to compare shoes. Right now, if I want to compare shoes, each product I'm interested in resides in its' own tab. I would love to do that in the same window. 
• Focus on shoes. That's what the site is known for and I found it hard to find.  
• It would be helpful to see shoes on a person with clothing or in motion. Asos – a UK clothing retailer that my friend introduced me to – has catwalks [click the flashing bar under the picture] showing off their items and it really helps bring the stuff to life. 
  

As for my search, onwards and upwards. And back to the streets. 

OLED explained

This is a Sony talking head but he gives a pretty good explanation of the benefits of OLED, namely:

- Low power
- High contrast, better than plasma and current tube technology
- More accurate color rendering
- Thin
- Lightweight

Samsung is the other big player in this space. OLED will play a prominent role in Holiday 2009, I'm sure.

Folding OLED

Awesome concept using Samsung OLED technology illustrating how a folding phone would work. 

We are on the cusp of some amazing product innovations in the next few years thanks to advances in thin low powered displays. I hope the next revision of the iPhone will have OLED technology that will allow the battery to last longer. 

Hat tip [Industrial Design Served]