Molly E. Holzschlag is a well-known Web standards advocate, instructor, and author. Here she is contemplateing the massive brain power needed to operate in information-rich environments like the intertubes: Web designers and developers are challenged in a way that very few learners and thinkers are challenged. Not only is the complexity of the subjects that we study a concern, but the rate at which we must absorb …
PR Gets Some Publicity
Ken Wheaton of Ad Age looks at The New York Observer's piece on Admen losing their mojo. The article suggests that public realtions, of all things, has usurped advertising as the industry of choice for those seeking a route to glamour. The supposition is supported by the role Heidi Montag, one of the stars of MTV’s reality show The Hills, plays on TV. Montag, according to the piece, is inspiring a whole generation of …
Facebook And Checkbook Not Yet Synonymous
New York Times is investigating whether any of the 4000 applications that have been introduced to the Facebook platform by second parties are making money for their inventors. As far as the paper knows, no one has made a significant sum. Yet, that hasn't stopped the money from flowing. In fact, one VC is totally dedicated solely to supporting Facebook application developers. This summer, Lee Lorenzen, a venture …
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Dump The Bucket
Greg Storey doesn't like the word "bucket," nor what it implies. I just got off the phone with another in a long list of clients who used the word "bucket" several times during a conversation about information architecture. In olden times we used words like "categories" or "sections" but these new kids are dropping their own slang as if creating a website is the new rap-battle. Does the word really work that much …
An Honest Identity For A Highly Suspect Firm
"Old black water, keep on rollin Mississippi moon, wont you keep on shinin on me" - The Doobie Brothers Rob Walker cracks me up with this take on Blackwater USA, the private security firm fighting for oil in Iraq. Let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that you’re starting a business that happens to be more or less an extragovernmental army. Your employees will be weaponized, trained to kill, and available for …
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Cavemen Battle Stereotypes In Prime Time
I watched the debut of Cavemen last night on ABC. I kept waiting for a Geico commercial to air, but no. How can Geico not buy air time on this show? …
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We’re Ad People First, Bloggers Second
Since most news-based firms (and many in entertainment) are now moving fast into blogging, reporters and editors have learned to respect the medium, albeit begrudgingly in some cases. On the flip side, Mike Smock's recent experience with a potential client shows how some in business are still slow to grasp full picture. Since almost all of my prospects see my blog first, and even though I have my campaigning …
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Pepsi Meets The Diversity Challenge
Facing South, a blog from the Institute of Southern Studies in Durham, NC, points to a book by Wall Street Journal editor Stephanie Capparell. According to the book's publisher, The Real Pepsi Challenge: The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business, is at once "a straightforward business book about the birth of niche marketing" and "a key chapter in the social history of our …
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