Technology

Quotes for the week ending 26 April, 2008

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

“He’s getting his ass kicked.”

Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, on the ‘credibility’ of Jeff Immelt, GE’s present CEO

“Nothing, nothing, nothing is as disgusting to me as some old CEO chirping away about how things aren’t as good under the new guy as they were under him.”

Jack Welch, on CNBC, making up for his previous criticism Jeff Immelt.

“Don’t pollute Earth Day with irrelevant advertising.”

Editorial in Advertising Age about marketers’ attempt to saturate the day with “Hey, look at us! We love trees” type of advertising.

“No happy label on toxic or wasteful product will ever change its contents.”

Abby Strauss, NY, a reader of Fast Company, commenting on Green Business practices article (“Another Inconvenient Truth“)

“Change everything…except for your wife and children.”

A 1993 quote attributed to Samsung chairman, Lee Kun Hee, to his chief executives. He now under government investigation.

“For the iced coffee drinks. Make them with ice cubes made from coffee.”

A consumer-generated idea on MyStarbucksIdea.com, that received 13,050 votes

“Phoenix is sprawling at a rate that seems to rival Moore’s Law.”

Matthew Power, in WIRED magazine in an extensive article (Peak Water) about ground water.

Sweet synchronization for the multi-tasker – convenient but not cheap

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Someday we will use our cell phone, I mean mobile device, as a portable hard drive, projector and remote control for a range of communication functions that are still add-ons, not core features. (How many people do you know who carry phones AND Blackberries?)

Until then we are all forced to email files to ourselves, so that these large attachments are floating around between Outlook and Gmail, and are easily accessible from a Mac at home, a PC at work, and a Windows Mobile phone in the airport, say. Damn devices!

So this service called SugarSync is a huge asset. It keeps files freshly updated for people on the run. Basically any file you work on, on one device, is automatically updated on the others. No version control headaches.

You could also create a folder (a “magic briefcase”) and drop any file or photo from one device to have it it accessible from the others.

For now, I use a variety of tools and services including the trusty flash drive, a wiki, a free online file storage service like DropBoks, and of course a shared drive. SugarSync will solve a lot of the runaround. Unfortunately it is not priced for everyone. At $2.49 a month for 10 gigabytes it is a good low-end solution. But if you are shuttling larger files like short videos, a folder of photographs for a presentation, and large documents –basically backing up most of the stuff on your laptop –you could easily be spending $100 a year.

Some employers might ask you to carry one of those small portable hard drives that cost $80 for 160 gigabytes, but it still won’t make every file accessible from your mobile device, and it will mean carrying around another piece of hardware.

Quotes for the week ending 19 April, 2008

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“We’ve been waiting for the internet bubble to burst.”

Nick Denton, founder and publisher of Gawker Media, on selling off Wonkette a gossip blog, and two other blogs.

“The Internet, which is shorthand for ‘interconnected network’ …is often broken because applications don’t interact.”

Robert Scoble, in Fast Company

“SugarSync may be just as sweet as you like it.”

Stephen Wildstrom, Tech columnist in BusinessWeek, on a new service that keeps stores the most resent files on a server  and synchronizes them with all devices.

“It’s a good idea to have a chief blogger.”

Mack Collier, social media consultant and blogger at Viral Garden, in a round table conversation hosted by Advertising Age.

“The drug industry appears to treat scientific data as if it were a marketing tool.”

Bruce Psaty, co-author of an article in the Journal of American Medical Association, on Merck & Co’s “studies” on Vioxx.

“Never use an agency to buy mobile media.”

Are Traasdahl, president-CEO of Thumbplay.

“They are being ignored by the Western media.”

Alicia Chen, senior at Arizona State University, on the too much attention in the news to politics, and not enough focus on the sports.

Quotes for the week ending 12 April, 2008

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“Nobody has the right to say ‘shut up’.”

The Dalai Lama in Japan, saying he supports the Olympics in China, but that protesters have their freedom to speak.

“experience great nights out without the fatigue.”

Description of Burn Alter Ego, a Facebook application from energy drink, Burn (a Coca Cola product) that lets people’s avatars go out and mingle with others, and have an automatic blog post about the encounters.

“Geoffrey Moore’s “late majority” and “laggards” have yet to join the party, but they will.”

Shel Holtz, interviewed by ValleyPRBlog, on the adoption of social media and its impact on PR.

“It’s a dreamer’s ad.”

Barb Rechterman, Exec VP at domain registrar GoDaddy, on the un-risque ad, “Kart” featuring (finally) a message about web sites.

“It is depressing that sound bites have replaced sound judgement, and that character assassination of one’s opponent has become expected political strategy.”

Cal Thomas, Tribune Media Services

“I just wonder why the torch was running away from the people.”

Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition, on the tactics used to protect the Olympic torch in San Francisco.

“That, ladies and gentleman, is what you call your ‘marketing challenge’.”

Bob Garfield, Advertising Age, about an ad by John McCain that makes us forget the Iraq war, but unhelpfully invokes Vietnam.

Cameras kill participation

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The pastor at a church in Pinetop, Arizona made a point that got me rethinking the role of photography. “Like the Pueblos and the Navajos ask,” he said, “come in and join us, don’t observe us…please no photography.”

I’ve been into photography for a long time. At conferences, weddings and children’s school events I switch between participation and observation, making an effort to blend in and be as non intrusive as possible. Maybe I’ve been fooling myself that I could make the switch.

Photo journalists face another part of this join-us-don’t-observe-us dilemma when covering events: should they stop what they came to do and get involved, or stand back and be objective? Through their lens, they see monks getting tear gassed, accident victims traumatized, children fleeing attacks, and natural disasters. Often see journalists among the first responders. Minutes after Nik Ut captured the Pulitzer prize winning photograph of children fleeing a North Vietnam attack on a village, he and another journalist poured water from their canteens on the burned child. He then drove her to hospital.

Where does the word “engagement” stack up in this line of work? Read this story and you will realize it’s not a black and white issue. Marc Halevi of the Eagle-Tribune went to cover a rescue on Plum Island. He first saw the took pictures of a woman on a sand bank of the stormy ocean. “Seconds later as he was looking through his viewfinder, he saw a wave crash against the embankment on which she was standing, knocking down the sand and pulling the woman into the water.” So he did what any photographer would do. He clicked. He also shouted to the rescuers on the scene. “Rather than do it myself,” said Halevi, “I just made this immediate decision that (these people) would be better than I (at rescuing her).”

Participation or Observation?

Quotes for the week ending 5 April, 2008

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“So why not bridge the gap between reader interest ad reader engagement by adding SMS codes, 2D barcodes, coupon codes and keyword search?”

Copy in Google ad about the value of adding encoded 2D bar codes (left) in newspaper ads that could be photographed with a mobile phone, and link reader to a virtual bookmark.

“During the inadequate training days prior to the opening, any staff questions were bounced back with ‘I don’t know’ “

British Airways baggage handler, quoted on BBC, about the chaos in Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

“Between information overload, globalization, and the sheer complexity of modern business, we’ve got to be more visual and less language dependent in communicating ideas.”

Dan Roam, visual consultant and author of The back of the napkin.

“Virgle”

Google’s April Fool’s joke (complete with maps and a Press Release) about Virgin founder Richard Branson and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin enabling users to colonize Mars.

“Simultaneity of input.”

Mark Vacay, director of the architecture firm, SmithGroup, on the need for builders to take into account the Millennial generation’s use of space, and using electronics for multiple inputs and interaction.

Citizen Op-Ed writers enlarge Spitzer story

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Lorenzo Sierra has a great theory. He may not have hyped it enough, but it’s worth a considering. It’s called the “cyclone of influence.” It has a neat way of explaining, in communication terms, the ever widening circle of influence. It’s very different from the ripple metaphor, he explains. Nor can the cyclone concept be illustrated by your typical PowerPoint icon. It almost requires a 3D perspective spinning and moving in unpredictable paths in real time.

Communication, like some climatic events, are triggered by deliberate or inadvertent human events. The recent Elliot Spitzer cyclone was whipped up in a high pressure area we call infidelity. You could track the scandal on Twitter, as the digital cyclone moved outward, aided by not just gossip publishers, and talk show rants but citizen op-ed writers. People, who were not your typical pundits, were enhancing the story with 140-character Op-eds.

One Michael Parekh wrote: “apparently, Paterson, the likely successor to Spitzer is also a Clinton super-delegate, though apparently not as committed.” Another wrote: Eliot Spitzer is getting Googled today from all over. 10 of the 11 big movers deal with him.

There were those outraged, some funny, and others with insider information like this and this that even journalists covering (enlarging) the event would have appreciated.

Which brings me back to the cyclone concept. Whether the news has the elements (sex scandal, politically incorrect speech, money…) that make it spiral, or is simply hyped by people on a slow news-tweet day, the op-ed factor broadens its footprint. Better get used to it. Especially so if you’re someone who blasts The Media (“Media content has gotten more graphic … “) as Spitzer did.

Quotes for the week ending March 29, 2008

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“In our rush to create social networks in cyberspace, we often forget that we already have a start (at least) of our social network in our physical spaces that just need some cultivation.”

Chief Experience Officer, David Polinchock, quoted in Ad Age, about an audience game using a motion sensor and the movements of the wisdom of the crowd.

“Let’s take a look at social media. It doesn’t have hard edges.”

Steve Rubel, on why three internet careers (“Social Media Consultant,” “Internet Advertising Sales,” “Digital Talent Agent”) that will soon disappear.

“Writing a business plan: that can be taught… but a really good idea, you can’t teach that.”

Rhett Wilson, community and entrepreneurial liaison at Arizona State University, in The State Press, on the $25,000 grant for a faculty of staff member with a winning business idea.

“What is the purview of a county sheriff, at least our county sheriff, is publicity.”

E. J. Montini on Arizona Sheriff, Joe Arpaio’s losing a Supreme Court case, but winning free PR.

“I say a lot of things — millions of words a day — so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement.”

Hillary Clinton about her “just words” moment, when she recounted visiting Bosnia under sniper fire 12 years ago.

“Guess what I think the fifth ‘P’ (in marketing) should be ?”

Rohit Bhargava, in a new book Personality Not Included, called released this week.

Rapp Collins’ scrambled print ad drives web traffic

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Rapp Collins epft tuvoojoh xpsl. That’s “does stunning work” in case you didn’t quite decipher that.

It ran a double spread ad with 53 names of ad people –scrambled. The only way to unscramble the names that turned out to be one Matt Jacobs, Nancy Vonk and Christian Barnett and others, was by looking at a web address at the bottom of the ad, and figuring out the letter substitution needed. The url itself was not the company address, but ‘greakfuckingplace.com’ which leads you to greatfnplace.com, which lets you type in a first name and last name to see a customized message.

Type a wrong name (you have to be pretty dumb to check if you’re not one of the 53 being poached) they allow you to contact them –basically apply for a job. But hey, this is Direct, so it’s no sin to ask directly, I suppose.

But in spite of the clever approach of going after creative officers and strat planners, and the trouble to encode their names, they do a poor job by making everyone of the 53 people being targeting see the same message –even traditional variable data printing does a better job of varying the fields and responses. But it does the job of driving traffic to the microsite, and maybe the main web site. Which justifies the expensive double spread in Advertising Age.

And speaking of Rapp Collins’ regular website it’s a tuvoojoh experience –unlike any other agency site I have seen.

Quotes for the week ending 15 March, 2008

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“This is the wrong image, folks.”

Josh Bernoff, of Forrester, complaining (“People are not bees”) about the gross misuse of the bee image among advocates of social activity

“Each of Spitzer’s words was accompanied by a rush of camera clicks.”

Report on the resignation over a prostitution scandal, of New York governor, Elliot Spitzer.

“Airborne is basically an overpriced, run-of-the-mill vitamin pill that’s been cleverly, but deceptively, marketed.”

David Schardt, Center for Science in the Public Interest on Airborne’s $ 23.5 million settlement with the FTC for false advertising.

“The usual way for a newspaper writer to weasel out of such a request is to say that it is not a “local” issue.”

E. J. Montini, in The Arizona Republic, on a reader asking him to display the nine zeros in $12,000,000,000 (when referencing the amount the US spends on two wars each month) and why he complied.

“Try doing what I do for a living … It’s not that easy.”

Journalist Sarah Lacy, in an all downhill interview with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at South By Southwest convention in Austin, Texas. The audience started heckling her, some started dancing.

“I now see myself as The Curator of Conversations.”

Businessweek writer Bruce Nussbaum, commenting on how his approach to journalism has changed. He was commenting on the Sarah Lacy incident.