But it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the three flavours I was eating in what passes for my office this week.
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Addendum.
Written By Unknown on Tuesday, 5 February 2008 | 07:43
But it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the three flavours I was eating in what passes for my office this week.
When Heritage Goes Bad.
If you make a claim for your product/service you better make sure it's a reflection of current behaviour. This struck me when I saw the inside lid of the Haagen Daz just now. It says
We began more than 40 years ago with three flavors, and it took six years to develop a fourth. That's the patient and uncompromising approach we've taken to every new product we've created ever since.
A nice claim to heritage and authenticity except that, at that rate, they'd only have seven flavours and it sure didn't look like that to me when I was in the supermarket.
Superbowl Silly Season.
Written By Unknown on Monday, 4 February 2008 | 17:47
It was interesting to see how much people were tweeting the Superbowl ads as they aired. It's become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The richest ad space on the planet ($2.7 million per 30 seconds) becomes an event. But I'm wondering if it's only an event for those in the industry.
Sorry to tell you folks, but the huge audience is there for the football game and maybe the half-time show. The ads are as interruptive as ever and seemingly more ignored than ever before.
You might think that Fedex had a better spot than cars.com or Tide but I'm not sure regular people were watching.
Added Link: Courtesy of Marcus, a time-lapse video of people watching the game (in the breaks between eating). Sadly, ad-breaks aren't highlighted.
Sorry to tell you folks, but the huge audience is there for the football game and maybe the half-time show. The ads are as interruptive as ever and seemingly more ignored than ever before.
You might think that Fedex had a better spot than cars.com or Tide but I'm not sure regular people were watching.
Added Link: Courtesy of Marcus, a time-lapse video of people watching the game (in the breaks between eating). Sadly, ad-breaks aren't highlighted.
Free Don't Pay The Rent.
Written By Unknown on Sunday, 3 February 2008 | 13:59
There is a reason why Kevin Kelly's post about the alternatives to free is being quoted everywhere. I make no apology for joining in. This is about as important a business post as you can get and will be in your top ten reads of the year come December.
If you don't spend endless time focussing on how to ensure your product/service delivers immediacy, personalisation, interpretation (comprehension), authenticity, accessibility, embodiment (sensual tactility), patronage (loyalty) or findability - and preferably any number of those factors, then you will be toast.
If you don't spend endless time focussing on how to ensure your product/service delivers immediacy, personalisation, interpretation (comprehension), authenticity, accessibility, embodiment (sensual tactility), patronage (loyalty) or findability - and preferably any number of those factors, then you will be toast.
Camino - web browser
Written By Unknown on Saturday, 2 February 2008 | 11:00
Camino é um navegador web (browser) para o sistema operativo Mac OS X da Apple, baseado no código fonte Mozilla, diferencia-se do Mozilla Firefox por utilizar nativamente os recursos do sistema Mac OS X.Ao invés de uma interface baseada na linguagem XUL, o Camino usa a API Cocoa, nativa do Mac OS.
Um dos objetivos do projeto é se integrar o melhor possível com o sistema operacional dos Macintoshes, para isso usa a a interface gráfica Aqua e utiliza uma série de serviços do Mac OS X como o gerenciador de senhas (Keychain), o compartilhamento de arquivos via rede (Bonjour), o corretor ortográfico e o suporte a múltiplos idiomas (incluindo o português). Outros recursos incluem um bloqueador de pop-ups, navegação por abas e suporte aos principais padrões da WWW.
O navegador é desenvolvido pelo Camino Project, uma organização aberta dos usuários e desenvolvedores.
O líder do projeto é Mike Pinkerton, no posto desde 2002 quando Dave Hyatt se transferiu para o desenvolvimento do navegador Safari na Apple Computer.
DOWNLOAD: LINK
Songbird
Cansado de ficar alternando entre browser e player de música? Então o Songbird pode ser uma boa opção.
O programa, derivado do código-fonte do Mozilla e ainda em versão beta, permite navegar na web e tocar MP3, além de organizar os arquivos em listas de reprodução.
É possível importar a biblioteca do iTunes e adicionar arquivos de qualquer diretório. Também dá para acessar o conteúdo do iPod ou de outro dispositivo USB.
Um dos recursos mais interessantes é a procura de músicas em cada página da internet que é aberta. Automaticamente, o Songbird envia os títulos encontrados para uma biblioteca da iternet, de onde as faixas podem ser baixadas.
O navegador já vem cheio de links para portais de MP3 como SkreemR e Insound, além de uma barra de pesquisa em sites como Google, Yahoo! e Wikipedia.
O tocador é capaz de reproduzir uma variedade grande de formatos, como MP3, AAC, OGG, FLAC e WMA. Assim como no programa da Apple, ele permite a busca e atualização de podcasts.
DOWNLOAD: LINK
Microsoft And Yahoo.
Written By Unknown on Friday, 1 February 2008 | 07:11
So Microsoft are formally trying to acquire Yahoo. The offer document is naturally filled with details of the opportunities that they suggest this will bring. But what of the opportunities for smaller businesses?
They might feel increasingly vulnerable in the face of the creation of such a huge conglomerate. But that's only true if they don't change.
The deal would have an impact on a huge number of users of a variety of services and there will be a minority of Yahoo users who might not want to be associated with Microsoft for the simple reason that they chose Yahoo's equivalent service in the past. That minority could in actual terms be a very big number of potential customers for a third party.
If your marketplace is overshadowed by one or more large businesses, you must not assume that you can't deliver some need better than they can. Focussing on the competition is important but focussing on the customer will always trump that. All business relationships are essentially one to one after all, so playing in the shadows can be very lucrative.
They might feel increasingly vulnerable in the face of the creation of such a huge conglomerate. But that's only true if they don't change.
The deal would have an impact on a huge number of users of a variety of services and there will be a minority of Yahoo users who might not want to be associated with Microsoft for the simple reason that they chose Yahoo's equivalent service in the past. That minority could in actual terms be a very big number of potential customers for a third party.
If your marketplace is overshadowed by one or more large businesses, you must not assume that you can't deliver some need better than they can. Focussing on the competition is important but focussing on the customer will always trump that. All business relationships are essentially one to one after all, so playing in the shadows can be very lucrative.