they kinda do cupcakessuckdotcom:

they kinda do cupcakessuckdotcom:

Cite Arrow reblogged from cupcakessuckdotcom
On the quantified self:
smarterplanet:

Your Life as Data: The Rise of Personal Annual Reports | Mashable
Every time he drinks a cup of coffee, Dan Meyer makes a note on his phone. He does the same every time he opens a beer, turns on his TV or travels away from home. At the end of each month, he spends about three hours transferring these meticulously gathered notes into an excel spreadsheet. Meyer isn’t obsessive compulsive, he just likes data. Like an increasing number of data geeks, he uses his personal life as a project — compiling small events into a sometimes elaborate, graphic annual report each January.

On the quantified self:

smarterplanet:

Your Life as Data: The Rise of Personal Annual Reports | Mashable

Every time he drinks a cup of coffee, Dan Meyer makes a note on his phone. He does the same every time he opens a beer, turns on his TV or travels away from home. At the end of each month, he spends about three hours transferring these meticulously gathered notes into an excel spreadsheet. Meyer isn’t obsessive compulsive, he just likes data. Like an increasing number of data geeks, he uses his personal life as a project — compiling small events into a sometimes elaborate, graphic annual report each January.

Cite Arrow reblogged from smarterplanet
world-shaker:

courtenaybird:

BBC News - App helps blind to send text messages
“[There is] a growing anxiety shared among the blind community that the widespread adoption of touchscreens for many machines and devices is making them ‘truly blind’… from copying machines to machines at the gym - is all coming with touch screens.”
“Blind people say I ‘see’ things with my fingers, but on touchscreens they are truly blind.” 

This is awesome.

world-shaker:

courtenaybird:

BBC News - App helps blind to send text messages

“[There is] a growing anxiety shared among the blind community that the widespread adoption of touchscreens for many machines and devices is making them ‘truly blind’… from copying machines to machines at the gym - is all coming with touch screens.”

“Blind people say I ‘see’ things with my fingers, but on touchscreens they are truly blind.” 

This is awesome.

Cite Arrow reblogged from morpheusmedia
To us, the Web is a sort of shared external memory. We do not have to remember unnecessary details: dates, sums, formulas, clauses, street names, detailed definitions. It is enough for us to have an abstract, the essence that is needed to process the information and relate it to others. Should we need the details, we can look them up within seconds. Similarly, we do not have to be experts in everything, because we know where to find people who specialise in what we ourselves do not know, and whom we can trust. People who will share their expertise with us not for profit, but because of our shared belief that information exists in motion, that it wants to be free, that we all benefit from the exchange of information. We, the Web Kids – an essay by Polish political writer and commentator Piotr Czerski lays out a manifesto for the generation nursed on the web. (via curiositycounts)
Cite Arrow reblogged from curiositycounts
Gap, DVF, and Nordies Shut Up Shop on Facebook

Facebook storefronts seemed like an interesting proposition to a number of high-profile retail and apparel brands last year. And I applaud the brands and their agencies for their willingness to experiment with creating e-commerce experiences inside of the world’s leading social network. 

However, according to Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research, “There was a lot of anticipation that Facebook would turn into a new destination, a store, a place where people would shop.

“But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar.”

Bloomberg has the story

The truth is, pop-up stores have worked in skate parks and other unlikely social spaces in the physical world, so why not see if online social networkers are in the shopper mindset, too? 

As these brands pull down their apps and get back to their ‘question of the day’ conversational marketing tactics on the service, I imagine this story will ricochet around other retail brands and their digital agency partners this month. F-Commerce plans may get scrapped in favor of Pinterest boards or Polyvore contests and rightly so. If our job is to carve out a slice of a marketers budget to try something and see if it sticks, to be disruptive and play with technology-based innovations, then I actually hope to see more articles like this. 

Good for GAP and Nordstrom. Where next? 

This is great!
thedailyfeed:

We sent an unsuspecting average dude from Brooklyn who had never been to a runway show before to 2 of them at New York Fashion Week. The results are … well, you’d better read for yourself. 

8:16 p.m. They don’t have a seat assignment for me, so a nice lady named Haley with an iPad and a headset puts me in G-2-29. I’m in the second row! Is that good or bad? I feel like it could be worse. There is a serious-looking fashion person next to me when I sit down. She says “Bonjour,” and I laugh, which is rude.
 8:18 p.m. Waiting, trying to look normal. I take notes in a notepad so people assume that I am an important and unsuspecting street-style blogger. I have not warmed up from the Moncler show yet. My legs are that type of cold where maybe I peed myself but there’s no way to be sure.
8:24 p.m. There is a beautiful and stylish mom across the runway. Her 6-year-old is a vision. He’s got messy blond hair and is wearing an ascot, blazer and striped socks. He’s eating a mozzarella stick, and he offers some to his mom. Where did he get those? Is he taunting me? He’s barely out of diapers, better dressed than me and in possession of mozzarella sticks. I’m a grown man and I should have those whenever I want. I hate him.
 8:27 p.m. The show starts. It is a genuinely thrilling live event! I try to nod and really pay attention to the clothes. “Hmm, yes, shoes.”

This is great!

thedailyfeed:

We sent an unsuspecting average dude from Brooklyn who had never been to a runway show before to 2 of them at New York Fashion Week. The results are … well, you’d better read for yourself

8:16 p.m. They don’t have a seat assignment for me, so a nice lady named Haley with an iPad and a headset puts me in G-2-29. I’m in the second row! Is that good or bad? I feel like it could be worse. There is a serious-looking fashion person next to me when I sit down. She says “Bonjour,” and I laugh, which is rude.

 8:18 p.m. Waiting, trying to look normal. I take notes in a notepad so people assume that I am an important and unsuspecting street-style blogger. I have not warmed up from the Moncler show yet. My legs are that type of cold where maybe I peed myself but there’s no way to be sure.

8:24 p.m. There is a beautiful and stylish mom across the runway. Her 6-year-old is a vision. He’s got messy blond hair and is wearing an ascot, blazer and striped socks. He’s eating a mozzarella stick, and he offers some to his mom. Where did he get those? Is he taunting me? He’s barely out of diapers, better dressed than me and in possession of mozzarella sticks. I’m a grown man and I should have those whenever I want. I hate him.

 8:27 p.m. The show starts. It is a genuinely thrilling live event! I try to nod and really pay attention to the clothes. “Hmm, yes, shoes.”

Cite Arrow reblogged from theatlantic
Curated Collaborative Consumption Gets Gamified

Waaa. Brain explodes as social shopping buzzwords spill henceforth but here goes: @LittleBlackBag starts by reeling you in with a quiz to establish your fashion sense (not disimilar to ShoeDazzle et al.).

Next you are presented with a mystery bag of designer apparel and accessories curated by the sites stylists. Upon the big reveal, you have a week to rummage around the site to exchange pre-selected items for things you might prefer. Once the hunting and gathering is complete, your Little Black Bag (at varying pricepoints) is mailed to you — a bit like a Birchbox, if you will. 

I have to say, I love how they’ve positioned the offering: Shop, Swap, Ship:


Members get freebies for inviting friends (nice audience acquisition/growth strategy) and by keeping the swap process open for a week, they’re ensuring a healthy return rate. Clever stuff. I suppose it remains to be seen if the merch holds up but with over 50 high-end brands already inked, this is one to watch. 

PS you can also follow Little Black Bag on Pinterest, which is a perfect place for them to be. Again, another very smart way to drive traffic and capture the right audience for their launch.