From the monthly archives:

February 2008

The Gap Between Talking and Acting

02.29.2008

I’ve never been to TED, the $6,000 conference extravaganza that sells out every year. However, I’ve seen many different posts that either point to TED presentations or talk about how great TED is. So I was caught off guard by Umair Haque’s recent post at Bubblegeneration: So, let me be a bit more blunt than [...]

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Big Business Fingerpainting

02.27.2008

In his usual, insightful way, Cory Doctorow again makes the case for complaining. His recent column in Information Week offered up this gem of a thought: At this point, there is a small legion of people—vocal and angry—looking around to figure out how to e-mail me to tell me I’m an idiot. I know this, [...]

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Self-Branding by Buying

02.26.2008

Last week, I touched on the idea of individual, global microbrands. Thinking about what defines an individual microbrand, I’ve wondered how the things we buy contribute to our microbrands. For example, what does my use of a Sony Ericcson cell phone say about me? Personally, I don’t think it says much of anything. However, what [...]

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Broken Politics

02.24.2008

I’m been quiet the last few weeks on the presidential election. Recent events in both parties, however, have made it worth revisiting the campaigns and the language associated with them. To clarify my position before diving in, I support none of the candidates (even the ones no longer in the race), and I believe both [...]

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Taking a Stand

02.21.2008

A few months ago, a friend introduced me to ideasonideas, the blog produced by smashLAB. Liking what I was reading, I took a closer look at this interactive agency and found Design Can Change. Here’s the challenge as outlined by smashLAB: smashLAB started to consider the amount of waste designers are responsible for. The paper [...]

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The War of the Brains

02.20.2008

What language does your company use to describe you? For example, I was a Senior Copywriter III (I think) at one of my jobs and a Sales Promotion Manager (I think) at another. The titles captured maybe 10% of my actual job function. When people left, HR filled the position or the post. What a [...]

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Growing, Growing, Gone

02.19.2008

Never one to say or do the expected, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia that company known for it’s love affair with the outdoors, takes an uncommon approach to business. I found a recent interview of Chouinard at treehugger.com where he was asked if growth is central to Patagonia’s philosophy. Growth’s an important issue for [...]

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Revisionist Checklists

02.18.2008

In recent months, I’ve spent time reading different books based on alternative history. The most recent, Farthing by Jo Walton, envisions a world built on a premise also put forth in Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America where America doesn’t engage in World War II. In Walton’s version, Britain makes peace with Hitler, leaving him [...]

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Personal Holidays

02.14.2008

What words are you using today? For a significant portion of the world, the frenzy of Valentine’s Day has arrived. In some countries, Saudi Arabia for one, all Valentine paraphernalia is banned. I’m curious, do we really need Valentine’s Day? Other than giving Hallmark a reason to exist, what do we accomplish on Valentine’s Day [...]

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Amazon's Language Problem

02.13.2008

I’ve debated for weeks whether to write this post (I apologize in advance. It’s long). I’m questioning my relationship with Amazon. How, you might ask, does my relationship with Amazon relate to this blog? Amazon’s language has crossed a point where I believe it warrants examination. Let’s start with a little background. I have an [...]

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