December 2009
1 post
2009 Predictions: Checking Myself
It’s been a couple months since I’ve updated the blog but I wanted to be sure I checked my annual list of predictions for the year against reality.
As you’ll see below, my total score is 16/22 with sub-scores of:
Tech: 3.5/7
Money: 4.5/5
Politics: 3/5
Pop Culture: 3/5
I seem to be getting worse at this though, I suspect my predictions are getting a bit more afield each...
August 2009
2 posts
industrial design
Apparently, industrial design aesthetics can be characterized as masculine and feminine. I suppose I always intuitively knew this, but until my friend mentioned it the other day, I never actively considered where the objects that fill my life might fall in that spectrum.
I notice this issue most dramatically and clearly represents itself among my collection of gadgets. For example, my Lenovo...
July 2009
6 posts
Online ad types are to website users as antibiotic...
1. “Run of site” ads lack targeting but are good at reaching a large swath of the user population, just as broad spectrum antibiotics lack specific killing power but are generally good at impairing most types of bacterial infection.
2. Behaviorally or demographically targeted ads are good at reaching specific users, but you need to know which users you’re trying to reach. Similarly focused...
coffee cup sizes and the great Charles Darwin
This morning I didn’t have to commute so I walked a few extra blocks to try out a new café that has been getting a lot of great reviews on Yelp. It was one of those independent cafés that really goes out of its way to impress upon you just how not-dependent they really are. They’d even—gasp—bucked the industry trend and appeared to be using “Small,” “Medium,” and “Large” for cup sizes. I enjoy...
read these blogs
Two of my good friends have recently started blogging and I’m pleased to report that both blogs are solidly better than this one.
Christopher Cutting’s Tolled Peculiar.
Charlie French’s Charlie Freedom.
golf and newspapers are for old people
Getting some beers and truly horrendous nachos with a few colleagues the week prior to last, the topic turned, as it often will among gatherings of like-minded corporate slaves, to the hotly debated industry issues de jour. In this instance: the collapse of newspapers.
Some background on this particular collapse may be needed to appreciate this post further so, without boring you too much, I...
WatchFor those that missed it, here’s a video of Ballmer talking about Bing at D7.
June 2009
2 posts
WatchDon Dodge is on This Week in Startups — Watch it.
crackpot prediction: globally unique person names...
I see a few long-term trends potentially colliding in an interesting outcome—individually unique names for each person worldwide.
I know, I know…hear me out.
Some trends and long-term predictions:
1. The Internet is absorbing nearly every network-dependent aspect of society. 50 years from now all education, civic engagement, communication, and non-convenience or entertainment-based...
May 2009
1 post
April 2009
2 posts
March 2009
6 posts
notes on tardiness
As most of my friends and colleagues know, punctuality is a big deal for me. I try to recognize that I’m generally a bit more anal about it than most, and give people some leeway, but it still upsets me fairly regularly.
Two manifestations of tardiness irritate me more than the rest; the “power play” and the “starbucks.”
The power play is when the offending party excuses their lateness by...
Synthesis blog →
Everyone should be required to read this blog. I’m totally blown away with the sheer volume of thoughtful posts that pour out of Shafeen.
February 2009
6 posts
20 male poses on Facebook →
I’m pleased to report I don’t conform to any of these cliches.
via - 2Birds1Blog
Roger Ebert's review of Deuce Bigalow: European...
From Roger’s review of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (0 stars): “The movie created a spot of controversy in February 2005. According to a story by Larry Carroll of MTV News, Rob Schneider took offense when Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times listed this year’s Best Picture nominees and wrote that they were ‘ignored, unloved, and turned down flat by most of the same...
January 2009
42 posts
Photosynthing the Inauguration in... →
no more twitter feed
Most of the readers of this blog seem to feel that the automatic feed from my personal Twitter is more obnoxious than interesting so I’m pulling the plug.
If you’re one of the few who liked it you can still follow me at twitter.com/benmcinnis
you wouldn’t think so, but tuna fish and coffee go very well together
just fired off a lengthy and graphic-laden strat email…I guess this is what I do for a living
If ancient societies knew we’d be able to track the progress of a parcel across the globe in real-time they’d have been impressed
HTC's 2009 device lineup leaked, shiny, pretty →
watching BBC’s Bleak House…cockney accents
Hype Machine’s top 10 albums of 2008 - http://tinyurl.com/7l9g7k - Agree.
lots of bubbles and foam
the beer appears to be working
brewing beer with Andrea…wish us luck, this isn’t our first attempt
congratulations to the Windows Live Mesh team on their win for Best Technology Innovation of 2008 at the #Crunchies
going to the final holiday party of the season
I need some tool that can sync my contacts between LinkedIN, Facebook, Outlook, and iPhone…anyone?