herebenotions

Two

This blog is now two. 

Two things I have learnt.

1. I like to think in my head, not write stuff down.

2. I want something simpler than a blog to collect interesting stuff, but not just something that bookmarks links.

photo from here

Frozen

I just love how much fun everyone has with this, and how it's been copied all over the world, like here. 

ImprovEverywhere have done some great stuff.  The Abercombie and Fitch one is also worth checking out.

6.6 billion potential customers

The almighty CEO blogs.  Posts like 'Understanding the TRUTH model' or 'Is love realy ineffable?' are very funnny.

Leaving the question, who's behind it? Reads like a planner.

The human footprint

Some fascinating facts from Human Footprint...from an average person's lifetime.

There's an article about it in The Daily Telegraph.

And various art installations were made to go with the programme.

Things I'm doing and not doing

Doing...

1. Laughing at this - new york to paris.  Go to Google Maps, select 'Get Directions'. Type in from New York, and to Paris, France.  Scroll down and read direction number 24.

2. Loving the idea of drop shots.  A drop shot is an alternative mailbox where you can find or leave random things for people to discover. You can create or find a dropspot via the site, and you can upload photos of the drop shot, and its evolution, too.  Something for the weekend.

Not doing...writing any of the following blog posts I've been meaning to write for months:

1. How I tried to spend 1 month without Google or any Google Aps (and cracked after 6.5 days)

2. Something about FMCG websites (the good, the bad, the ugly)

3. Michael Wolf's photography

4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Responses to various blog posts I've found interesting but just haven't had the time to get round to yet.

Talk to me or future me

Two little amusing things...

First, an A.I. creation called Yuichan with a Zen bent.  Entrancing how real the conversation can feel, though once you've 'talked' with it for a bit the 'conversation' can go in circles.

Then there's this site that lets you compose an e-mail to your future self, and it will deliver it to you on any date you chose. Sweet.

There's a book too...

well, yes...

...but they're missing the point somewhat. 

Also being delayed, on the way to New York from Chicago, behind a frieght train - to the tune of 8 hours; on top of an 18 hour time-tabled journey - brought out a whole new kind of rage out in the woman sitting behind me. 

Love the design though: dynamic with lots of movement and a romantically retro-look.

Hot news

Very funny article in The Times on Saturday. 

For those that fancy old-fashioned newsprint, there's a copy of the article under the cut...

Musicovery

Musicovery is a very nifty little music search engine that lets you search for music to suit your mood, and by genre. 

And it lets you listen to whole tracks, free, and skip instantly if you don't like something. 

Not a massive selection of tracks, and with no way to upload your own playlists, it's a nice but limited idea.

The naviagation is interesting, but lacks full scrollability, it would be better if you could browse down the music 'branches'.

Basic business model in that there are simple links to itunes and amazon music for the track that is playing.

Musicovery isn't 'intelligent', and does serve up a pretty random selection of tracks.  I rather like that, but if you fancy something more personalised then Last.fm claims to be leading the 'social music revolution'. 

You type in a track you like and it serves you up something similar.  You can rate whether you like it or not, and it'll learn your preferences.  It crosses search with social networking, in that you can create a profile, and see what your friends are listening too.

Adding up to nonsense

A tale of a Verizon mobile customer and various conversations with customer service reps who can't tell the difference between dollars and cents.  Painfully funny. 

Customer: Do you recognize that there's a difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents?

{pause}

Rep: No.

Full transcript can be found here.