Charlotte to San Diego and back

Back from the field...a few images from the adventures

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Fixed

Social bookmarks are finally back online!

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Sum of the Parts - Lenovox300

Gizmodo has a cool "innerds" shot of a Lenovo laptop. Love seeing what makes things tick and tock. Surprisingly less than you would assume to be capable of so much. Businessweek has a par-ish article on the struggle to create a contender. I find the picture worth a thousand words.
LaptopRace

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Inspiration Walks

New York has always been an incredible source of inspiration. At times i struggle to think my former life outside of the city, not remembering life pre sensory-overload. Whenever i can, i arm myself with a camera and look for juxtapositions and flashes of inspiration. I love experiencing the city as a living organic creature, forever changing. The only consistency is change. Living here you just need to embrace things and go with the flow. Sure things can get overwhelming but you just need to know where to look.

Just a few photos from last weekend. Its been too long since the previous hunt

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Real to Virtual Innovation - Nerf Wii Blaster

I saw this product and absolutely loved it! Sometimes toys are the greatest source of inspiration and innovation.

Nerf has never been high on my list of innovators but this product does several things well. According to Kotaku, the product is "probably intended for EA's upcoming Nerf N-Strike title". This blast combines a fully functioning Nerf blaster with the ability to turn into a Wiimote for the game.

What makes this great is the ability to translate a real-life behavior into a virtual one. Nerf is a fun toy, but quite often lives within a fantasy world. The ability for a product that can stretch between real and virtual adds a tremendous amount of depth and meaning to the product. Giving it the ability to be a peripheral for other games adds even greater functionality. Peripherals have never been hotter (guitar hero, rock band), but this is a first giving it physical world benefits.

Given the change in the nature of kids behavior, catering to a virtual crowd isn't a bad step, in fact its probably better to face the music these days. This does a great job in bridging that gap, and it could even work in reverse and get some kids to get out and play. This creates more occasions for usage based on kid's current behaviors.

One of the biggest challenges of virtual worlds, software or sites is translating into real behaviors. In the future we can expect RFID chips and all sorts of E-hancements to mix the virtual and real seemlessly. I just never expected to it so soon in an foam toy for kids.


Nerrrf

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Loss of Storytelling - SuperBowl Ads

Wow...how late is this. Can you tell how much work i have going on? Thought i would weigh in better late than never

This year's Super Bowl was quite thrilling. Depending on where you come from, you were either ecstatic or distraught like half of my house. As always the Super Bowl is the showcase for the best ads of the year, or so the non-ad folks think. Heck there are even sites dedicated to it solely now.

Sadly though the ads have gone downhill since they started generating buzz, something indicative of ads in general these days. While Apple's 1984 set the bar high for ads, we have only watched their demise as the buzz has grown. Remember GoDaddy anyone? Still somewhat shameless and not doing anything to help themselves. Heck even the hamsters from cannon's dot.com era were funny, but lost in today's world. Were this year's any better?

Here is what we got:

Offensive Asian stereotyping

Dancing Lizards- Is this a soda ad or a new children's animated movie? The smoky, fiery farts are a bit much..

Toyota- Making no sense (for a change) with cannon's and badgers. A quiet ride sells a car?

CareerBuilder's downfall (those monkey's really portrayed the office better than we thought)

The usual BudLight schtick - funny but still vapid and lacking a sticking point. Ok so its a commodity, at least acknowledge the cheapness of it

Fedex- Giant pigeons. Possibly the best of the day, the most lasting certainly

T-Moible: Charles yapping, pretty funny if you follow him on TNT. This was one of the better ones...

Really what i saw out of this was....

Loss of storytellers, for lack of a better term.

Nothing that sticks, its all about splashes, but these days we are almost immune to advertising. We automatically click the pop-up off the screen or start talking when a commercial comes on. There is little to no added value coming from the spots next to a laugh and that creates little connection, functional or emotional. The rules of engagement have changed and no one seems to acknowledge it...My how the 30second looked so dinosaurish...

Surprisingly the movie trailers kept my attention the most, maybe thats because they were trying to tell a story

*Note: Will Ferrell knows how to tell a story and establish a character just by acting goofy so maybe he wins by default



See how they ranked

SuperLame

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