Pillow Talk

Hmm ... another from the "it should have been obvious" file: A man-shaped pillow. It looks more like Dr. Bunson Honeydew, to me.

Cell Phones in the Classroom.

Norms re. cell use are shifting, as evidenced by this article in the NYT (link requires free registration):

ANSING, Mich. - Sitting in his second-period computer class at Eastern High School, Gray Taylor, 15, felt his cellphone vibrate. To avoid being caught by the teacher, he answered quietly - and discovered an unexpected caller.

"Why are you answering the phone in class?" Gray's mother asked. He whispered back, "You're the one who called me." His mother said she had intended to leave a question on Gray's voice mail.

As bariers against cell use lower, are there rhelms in which cell-ban barriers should remain high?

The Graying of Online Dating

Online dating has not only matured as an industry, it is also serving a more mature clientele:

NEW YORK - Sensuous, intellectual woman, 5'3, adventurous, pretty and open, seeks a life partner who is sexy, highly intelligent and cheerful. How old is this woman? In her early 60s. That's the profile Mary Bellis Waller, now 64, posted on two Internet dating sites during her search for a companion. Waller was a pioneer of online dating among people her age, and thousands of others age 60 and older are also turning to the Internet to find romance.

Is TVIP in your near future

First mail over IP. Then music over IP. Then voice over IP. Get ready for TV over IP:

Wired News: Phone Lines Deliver Next-Gen TV: "TV over phone lines -- also known as TV over internet protocol, or TVIP -- is already taking root in Europe, with offerings from France Telecom, Italy's FastWeb, Britain's HomeChoice and others. There are many more on the way, with Britain's top fixed-line phone company, BT Group, in talks with content companies as it prepares to launch its own service."

Yep, that's right, TV over Internet Protocol or Internet TV. On demand tv through your internet connection. Think of the possibilities!

Music on Disk: Leveraging the Cash Cow quadrant?

Yep, the CD persists ... for a few more years, anyway:

Wired News: Study: Compact Disc Rocks On: "LONDON -- The compact disc has at least another five years as the most popular music format before online downloads chip away at its dominance, a new study said on Tuesday."

Presidential Polling: Celled Out?

From the NS file, a surveyclaims to have discovered that cell phones are "left out" of presidential polling. While this finding is not revelatory, it does shine light on the increasing challenges that face folks collecting survey data by phone:

Merely 3 percent of Americans use a cell phone as their only phone today. But Yankee Group senior analyst Kate Griffin predicts that by 2009 as many as 15 percent of American adults will have cut the cord. If that happens, pollsters would face the frightening proposition that more than one in seven adults would have zero probability of being included in a sample. If that scenario plays out, it could put a serious dent in the fundamental statistical basis of national polls.

Cereal: The Last Franchising Frontier?

Some shit is just too wierd to make up. Consider Cereality, a "Cereal Bar and Cafe." Here's their speil:

Familiar. Yet never seen before.

When you walk up to a Cereality, something immediately feels familiar. That's because we serve dozens of brand-name cereals (both hot and cold), just waiting to be combined.

And ordering at Cereality is easy. Pick two cereals and a topping. Be creative. We'll mix it up, and then you add as much milk as you like.

Um ... yeah. And their first store is in the union at one of my former employers (Arizona State University). Go figure.

NPR ... Liberal? Mission Impossible

This morning Renee Montagne chatted with Cokie Roberts about the latest presidential poll numbers. Amazingly, Cokie advances that President Bush says "he would again go to the aircraft carrier with mission impossible written on it." Mission Impossible? Even more amazing is that Renee Montagne didn't respond at all. Here's the link to the audio. The quote occurs about 4:00 into the segment.

Ancient Reservoir System Decyphered in Mesa Verde

It is just amazing that significant finds remain literally under our noses. Lives of ancient peoples of the American South West fascinate me. Most fascinating is how little we actually know about them. This Denver Post article details the most recent revelation of these peoples:

"The Ancestral Puebloans that populated the riverless mesa top conquered the impossible by creating a water system to sustain their domestic and agricultural needs," says Patricia Galloway, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Here's a Google News search for latest stories on this realization.

Experience creation movest to new fronts:

NEW YORK—Samsung unveiled its new high-tech showroom Wednesday to a select group of media and analysts. Located in New York's swanky Time Warner Center, the "Samsung Experience" follows in the footsteps of Sony's popular Style stores, located in New York and San Francisco.

Yep, the transition from services-based, to experience-based value offerings is definitely in full swing.

More here.

Your Boss Knows Where you Are

GPS enabled phones, coupled with locator services offered by NEXTel, and other wireless carriers, make possible easy tracking of off-site employees. Is there a dark side? Big boss is watching | Tech News on ZDNet

Thumb drive as ... Fashion accessory?

Who'd a thunk that storage devices would become club emblems? From Storage, a New Fashion

Internet Junkies go Cold Turkey ..

Internet Junkies go cold turkey and the results are not pretty.

ChangeThis will ChangeYou

I just pulled my head out of the sand and discovered ChangeThis. It is a periodic compilation of "manifestos." Each manifesto focusses on a single topic (e.g., The 10 Laws of the Grass Roots) and is rendered in a compelling quick to read graphic style. Compelling stuff.

Email Ettiquette

Here's a great piece on email ettiquette. Read it now!!

Designing Retail Experiences

Brand Autopsy has a nice piece on designing retail experiences. Lots of good links included. Yep: this is the present.

Hali-Phone?

Reuters reports: "BERLIN (Reuters) - A German telecommunications company said on Tuesday it is developing the first mobile phone that will alert users when their breath is bad or if they are giving off offensive smells." Hmm ... now, what will they think of next? A cell phone that also does duty as a prophylactic?

Some electric devices last: Lightbulb burns for 96 Years

Let's all sing Happy Birthday to this 96 Year Old Lightbulb!

New Canon Digital Hardware: Yea!

Canon introduces two new DSLRs: the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II and EOS 20D. Also new is a EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens that returns wide angle to the digital realm. Film is dead.

It's Free ... so Buy it!

Yep, it's true! There's a big market for stuff that's free:

Wired New Reports: "A word-for-word reprint of a government panel report -- the 516-page paperback -- is not the kind of item that usually tops off the nation's reading list. Moreover, like most government documents, it's available online for free."

IM Avatars Go Rad

Wired News: Instant Messaging Goes Graphical

The Pen is Mightier than the ... bike lock?

It appears that my favorite variety of bike lock is easily hacked by a Bic pen. Whoops!

Extreme SUV: Navistar CXT

Another one from the "it should have been obvious" file. Extreme SUV's are here.

BuyMeABeer.com: SMS pints

Oh, I suppose this should have been obvious. After all, it lowers the barriers to buying someone a drink: BuyMeABeer.com:

Grouper - The latest in P2P

Yep, P2P lives. Grouper is its latest incarnation.

Sonic Gardening: Gadget Turns Plants Into Speakers

This gizmo that Turns Plants Into Speakers makes sonic gardening a new possibility.

Cross-Cultural miscue by Fuji

Failure to understand the nuances of non-native cultures can be hazardous to yoru bottom line. Here's a nice example of how Fuji insults Brits.

Floppy Disk: Past Tense?

It looks like the floppy disk, the long-running standard for portable storage, may soon become an historical relic. I can't recall the last time I used one.

Software: Buy or rent?

Software pricing: Buy or rent?: "Several business and technological drivers are converging to enable the software industry to move toward a service-oriented model of development and delivery." An interesting concept.

TiVo + Netflix = Great Synergy

What do you get when you combine TiVo and NetFlix? Sounds like great synergy to me.

Is there a Sidekick in your future?

The Sidekick is an interesting device. This interview with Hank Nothhaft sheds some light on Danger's marketing strategy for Sidekick and some interesting usage stats.

Cell Phone as Lifesaver: A New Twist

You never know when your cell phone might save your life but this cell phone meets cross-bow incident is indeed unique.

Death of the Classroom?

Are adaptable multi-use spaces the "classroom" structure of the future? Here are the thoughts of one supporter of the concept.

Smart Learning Environment

Yep, environment matters, too. How about aSmart Learning Environment: Syllabus?

Too much Tech on Campus?

Campus-wide WiFi networks, iPods distributed to freshmen like pencils ... has campus info tech too far? I think we can push the envelope much harder.

Stalking goes high tech

I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone connected the possibilities and deployed location enabled tech to stalk a former girlfriend.. More details available here.

Where Higher Business Ed needs to go

Here's a nice piece on what higher ed business programs need to offer.

Ever wonder how salt and pepper become the standard table spices?

I can't say I've given much thought about why salt and pepper adorn almost every dining table. Yet, why is an interesting question. Here's one explanation.

Brand Mapping the Presidential Candidates

Here's a great example of a projective research technique: profiling presidential candidates with brands.