Continuing on the theme of Duncan Watts and the demise of influencers and A listers, CNET Networks conducted a three-part study called "The Influencer Study from CNET Networks: Challenging Perceptions." It explored the structure of social networks, the motivations for giving advice, and methods of acquiring information. The results challenge three commonly-held perceptions: "The Few [...]
In one of the more unusual appearances that I've been a part of, here is a "fireside chat" with Steve Ballmer at Mix 2008. (He sidestepped by question about Vista twice, so if you want the latest news about Windows, you'll have to go here.) Incidentally, he tossed my Air on the (carpeted) ground! It's [...]
If you'd like to see a site that uses "video" very well, check out Start Cooking. It animates still shots in a highly effective way. I can't think of a site that shows how to do stuff with "multimedia" better than this one. There's one more thing to really like about this site too: It's [...]
You learn something new everyday. For example, I visited the St. James Gate Brewery of Guinness the other day in Dublin, Ireland and learned how to properly pour a point of Guinness. This is where the real production happens. This facility brews roughly three million pints per day. The tourist part of the facility is [...]
Ethernet, 23-inch monitor, card reader, and VX Nano mouse using old power supply. (For all the top Mac news, click here.)
Any article that starts off by advising you to tell potential employees that working at your company is a stepping stone to great jobs in other companies is okay by me. Penelope Trunk does this in "Memo to Human Resources: New Ways to Get Great Candidates." Her recommendations include: Tell people where they'll go next. [...]
Stanford University is full of smart people, and now it has a smart building too thanks to Jerry Yang, the co-founder of Yahoo!, and his wife Akiko Yamazaki The building is called Yang and Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2). The size of the building is 166,000 square feet, and it cost approximately $470/square foot. [...]
Avenue A Razorfish released the 2008 Digital Outlook Report yesterday. The purpose of the report is to help Avenue A's clients understand consumer behavior in the digital space. In the report experts cover topics such as media spending, mobile web usage, social influence marketing, the state of search, and behavior targeting. Here are some tidbits [...]
This article, called "Demystifying 'Above the Fold'" is important to read for its contrarian approach to this belief. It states that people are so intent on reading content may not notice any ads above the fold.
Choose your weapon: Power 1.0 = muscle and weapons Power 2.0 = money, market share, or brain power Given these choices, most people and companies choose both. However, both Power 1.0 and 2.0 reflect Machievelli's thinking that it's better to be feared than loved. Dacher Keltner, professor at U.C. Berkeley, has defined what I would [...]
Day -1095: Waiting for a Macintosh that comes close to a Vaio in size, weight, and, most importantly, battery life. Day -60: Rumors start circulating about a super-cool, super-thin MacBook. Day -30: Go into Apple store and tell them to put one of these rumored super-cool, super-thin MacBooks aside for me if the rumors are [...]
Since so many people liked the merry-go-round water pump idea, I thought I'd mention another one: Milk banking. Yes, it's what it sounds like: Women give milk to a milk bank ala a blood bank. Apparently natural milk helps premies and sick babies. I learned about this business when the New England Milk Bank won [...]
Entrepreneurship Week starts on Friday, February 22nd. The events are free and open to the "greater Stanford community" (which I would define as anyone who can get to the campus). Here is the agenda that features a bunch of great workshops and sessions. I can't imagine you could a better way to spend a few [...]
Here's a counter-intuitive thought: Shoppers with less information about a product are happier than those with more information. Researchers at the Tippie College of Business came to this conclusion after conducting a study in which people were asked their opinions of chocolate and hand lotion. One group was given extensive information and the other much [...]
http://www.youtube.com/v/uQu_Jppvzyk This is the cleverest idea I've seen in years (and Apple had nothing to do with it as far as I know): PlayPumps. Kids play on a merry-go-round and pump water for villages at the same time. Girls benefit in particular because they are usually the ones fetching water. How cool is that?!
Q: What’s the difference between Silicon Valley and yogurt? A: Yogurt has culture. Maybe this isn’t so true anymore. I did a video interview for a new blog that I predict you’ll find very interesting, It’s called Valley Zen: At the Intersection of Zen and Technology. Drue Kataoka and Bill Fenwick are the writters. Drue [...]
Bob Sutton continues to fight the good fight against certified orifices. He started by literally writing the book about it. This time, he's created a test for you to determine if you have the client from hell. Click here to take the ACHE (Ass**** Client from Hell Exam). Luckily, he provides a path out of [...]
The Industry Standard is back, and I wrote a post for it based on a panel I moderated last Friday. The topic of the panel angel investing, and a more qualified panel doesn't exist: Andy Bechtolsheim (the first investor in Google), Ron Conway, and Ian Sobieski. If you're interested in angel investors, you need to [...]
An email pitch from an entrepreneur named Sherry Couch of BizNiche brought a big smile to my face. First of all, how could I skip an email with a subject line like this one: “Everything you should know about me as an entrepreneur you could learn from my OB/GYN”? Sherry went on to write:I am [...]
My favorite scene in The Last Samurai was when the Tom Cruise character says something to the effect that “I’ve never seen a people who are more obsessed with perfecting simple skills” as he watches some villagers. This is just so Japanese—I’ve used it several times to explain to my wife why I try to [...]