magic dust don't last forever

Ahh antibiotics. They're like magic. They make you go from feeling completely wiped out to shiny and new in 2.5 days. But, when you head out for your 6.6 mile training run, the magic starts to fade. By the last mile this morning I realized that no matter how fabulous Ticker Bell's dust may be, once you've worn out the glow you stop flying and gravity has it's way with you.

What I'm saying is. I'm tried of having allergies that make me sick. And maybe I should have only gone for the 5 mile run today.

weekend trip tool

I get one Friday off a month this summer and want to take quick, relaxing, cheap trips. Wish there was a site that showed you a map with circles surrounding your immediate area telling you what was within a 1, 2 or 3 hour plane, train, or bus ride of you. It would be matched up with Foursquare's API or FB or Loopt or something that would tell you which of your friends were within those circles.

So let's say that I was using it (like my terrible drawing?), I could see that Philly is only a 1.5 hour train ride away and that my friend Erica lives there. Then I would be able to drop Erica a line to see if she would mind me visiting for the weekend.

Alright. So who can build this?

chugging along slowly

An hour and 45 minutes after we were supposed to depart, we have now loaded the train. Conductor just announced that we will be waiting here until they fix the track, or something similar to that. No one on the train could really hear the announcement so it's that's our best guess. Great.

How is it that the oldest form of mass ground transportation still hasn't figured out how to get people from A to B on time and without headache? Makes me think of the old Einstein quote: "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." Maybe it's time for Amtrak to think outside of it's own antiqued level of consciousness and typical methods of problem solving. We may be able to find a new way to fix trains or track issues, a new way to construct the equipment entirely or perhaps even just a way to make the wait worth a traveler's while. 


#comeonamtrak

television set, there's hope for you yet

Was reading an article about Google TV. Google TV will allow us to surf the web and watch video via our televisions through a device that we will buy and attach to our sets.

So we went from group television watching - sitting around the tube with our friends/family sharing a bowl of popcorn to watching solo via laptops and Hulu. For many, television via web has become the preferred method of access to our favorite shows. It lets us watch when we want and with limited commercials.  However, it's made what used to be a shared experience into a lonely activity. Head-phones on, sitting in front of a 13 inch screen doesn't leave a lot of room for companions.

I think the opportunity in Google TV is that it can introduce group watching to Hulu-watching. It will allow us to marry the shared experience of watching television with the benefits of online-show watching. Welcome back to the age of social television.

peoplematter

Brilliant idea by artist Nic Rad. With his recent art exhibit PeopleMatter, Nic painted over 100 portraits of people who have pushed ideas and influenced others in journalism, media, blogging and music. 99 of them were given away for free to people who contacted the artist with a solid reason of why they wanted that portait.

Nic made the fans the curators of the exhibit, asking them to decide which people belonged on the free wall and who should be banished to the pay wall. If you felt that you belonged on that wall, you could petition Nic with your reason why you are an influencer.

The wall ended up with a wild mix from Malcolm Gladwell and Barbara Walters to a porn star and Perez Hilton.

I got the painting of Meagan O'Connell.

Here's why I wanted that painting:

Ended up on the video coverage that Gawker did of the show, kinda funny. Nice voice over from Nic about the show:

Nic*Rad - PeopleMatter - Rare Gallery 4/29/2010 from Richard Blakeley on Vimeo.

rva or no?

Urtak 2600

It is a 6 hour bus ride... but would be really nice to get down there... See the professors, old friends and some of my old haunts. Erg. What to do?

dream on dreamers

Weird mix of reality and dreams for me. Was filling out the entry form to win HGTV's dream house. Every year they build an amazing house in a picturesque location, fill it with top furniture and then give it away for free. If that isn't good enough, they also give the winner a new car and $100,000 cash. I noticed a poll next to the entry form asking "what will you do with the $100,000?" I was surprised to see that the answer with the highest votes what "pay off debt." '

That website was all about dreams - dreaming of starting a new life where you live in a perfect house in a lovely neighborhood. Clearly though the more we see we could have the more we realize we lack. Seems like so many dreamers out there find their realities too heavy to dream with abandon.

how to become a good brand

Really like this report from PSFK on good brands.

Good Brands Report 2010

View more documents from PSFK.

family fun: recession's resulting laughter

One of the positive results of the recession (as difficult as it is to find positives from that situation) was the return to family-time. Families were shifting their entertain budgets to staycations and board games, keeping them closer to home and bringing them closer together. The return of family-time means a need for more family-entertainment and hence we have emerging family entertainment.

Welcome back to the good ol' days of TV family comedy. We've gone from television portraying a desperate and deranged suburbs to television that entertains us by celebrating the beautiful imperfection of family life. 'Modern Family,' 'Glee' and 'Secret Life of the American Teenager' are there to show us how our wholesome American values live in the modern world.

Makes you wonder... Do families that laugh together, live together more happily? Could stronger family values and ties lead to fewer divorces? During the recession many couples put off getting divorced because of the high associated costs. What's become of those couples? Are they enjoying a laugh on the couch with the kids? Could the time have mended those wounds? As we gracefully exit the recessive stage of the union, will more couples remain united?

poll says...

@heyamberrae just shared this new polling site with me - urtak.com. You create your own polling question, then people can add relating questions (or otherwise I suppose). The eventual results are layers of interesting human insights. Some interesting potential in this one...

Urtak 2185

broadband - causing the downfall of the elitist art world

In a Wired Magazine article, Banksy discusses power in the art world: "There’s a whole new audience out there, and it’s never been easier to sell it, particularly at the lower levels. You don’t have to go to college, drag ’round a portfolio, mail off transparencies to snooty galleries or sleep with someone powerful. All you need now is a few ideas and a broadband connection. This is the first time the essentially bourgeois world of art has belonged to the people. We need to make it count."

location-based drink-thinking

The mobile-tech trend of location-based is moving beyond social media. How could a beverage brand adapt the idea to location-based drinks? One idea, a drink could create it’s own Foursquare check-in that drinkers would check into when drinking. Or maybe a hashtag that a Foursquare user writes into their message when drinking that drink in a particular place. For a reward, they could earn a badge from Foursquare for associating with that drink. The reward for the brand is an association with a particular moment or type of venue. That, along with the fact that when you check into Foursquare it sends all of your users a text, so lots of exposure for the brand coming from trusted sources. 


Wrote this for liquidinspiration.blogspot.com, reposting. 

racing for a cure!!

I'm training to run the NYC Marathon November 7, 2010 with the  Leukemia Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. In order to run I have to raise $3,800 for cancer research and programs for cancer patients. Support the cause and this diabetic kid running the marathon by donating through my page!

political slap party

"For Democrats, having a health care bill is not only a 'major policy victory' but also a 'badly needed psychological boost' for a party that was growing increasingly desperate for a major accomplishment with the November election looming, according to [Charlie] Cook [of The Cook Political Report]." - Washington Post


What the leaders of the Democratic party aren't seeing is that the entire party is not sitting around the table with them. I am a member of their party, many people I know and you know are members of that party. But WE don't see this as a win. What has been won? We can't even understand how this bill is going to affect us as every news source says something different and the hidden negatives of the bill are popping up in sources that aren't necessarily trustworthy. This is not about a slapping game between two old stubborn parties who are disconnected from the citizens they are meant to serve. This is about creating justice and fairness in the health system so that we can have healthier citizen.


What makes me even more sick is this:

"Politics Daily reports: "The Democratic National Committee announced it will begin running ads Thursday praising House Democrats who voted for the health care reform bill and calling out Republicans who opposed it. The ads -- 25 on television and 10 on radio -- will run in markets across the country." 


Chest beating? Seriously?

This is going to bite the Democrats in the ass if it doesn't solve the problem. The reality is that solving problems can take time, more time than there is between now and November. The current confusion that citizens have over the bill will only lead to more discontent. Good luck hanging on to Congress in Novemeber guys. 

virtual latte anyone?

Just read this article in fast company about BooYah, a location based service that is now partnered with H&M to offer discounts on clothes for those checked-in. This is very similar to what Foursquare is working at.

I recently learned about how on another location-based service, Gowalla, you can leave virtual items in the ether of a space you've checked into that another user can choose to take. It's all fake little gidgets, say I leave a teddy bear and someone else who checks in can take that and leave a toy train. This makes me think of Second Life and how real currency is converted to digital currency and whole businesses are run across the bizarre platform. Wondering if that's where Gowalla's idea may head next? Could they release items virtually, only in specific venues that people could buy/sell? Granted buying a virtual cup of coffee while standing in a coffee shop may not be as enjoyable as buying the physical version, but I feel like there's something in that. Want to discuss and explores possibilities in this.