Radio Formatted By You

If the radio gods where to design a station based on you and your musical tastes, what would it sound like? Well, if you haven't heard of Pandora.com, I suggest you go there and find out. Pandora, an online radio station, enables you to build a station based on artists and songs you love.




It's simple to use, but the technology and methodology behind it is anything but. Pandora believes that everyone has a unique relationship with music. Thus, they created a Music Genome Project which over 8 years has analyzed the makeup of songs and artists. Using this musical DNA (up to 400 characteristics), they are able to match up your designated preferences with others you likely should enjoy.

For example, I created a Keb Mo station. When I hit play, Pandora kicked things off with one of his songs followed by Taj Mahal and then some old school Eric Clapton. Pretty soon I was in blues heaven. You can skip songs. You can give them a big thumbs up or a giant thumbs down. And you can add endless artists mixing them up as your mood dictates. It's customized but not limited. Chances are you will discover a new song or artist that you absolutely love. Very cool.

With today's FM stations falling into a only handful of categories along with the fact that they play their tunes on the same tired loop, Pandora is truly a breath of fresh air.

It's call letters should be WYOU.

A Rollerblade Comeback?

Ah, remember the days when jogging paths were filled with elbow-and-knee-padded amateurs weaving on wheels their way to tighter buns? Yes, the rollerblading fad flew by about as fast as a 300 lb. guy descending down Lombard Street with questionable brakes.

So what happened?

Was it the token ER visits that accompanied learning this new sport? Perhaps, it was the backlash of bikers and runners? Or was it simply a victim of going out of style? My guess is that it was probably a combination of all. The rollerblading image became less of an extreme or hockey-related activity and more of a "Let's put on our bright spandex and blade over to that smoothie place for a Lo-Carb Tropical Mango Breeze" kind of thing.

Anyhow, I recently read about how in Paris, urban rollerblading is making an underground uprising. And of course, all you have to do is go on YouTube to discover exactly what's happening. One video below is absolutely insane, as severe injury or death appears to be one hidden pothole or stale croissant away. Another shows how rollerblading can be an activity for the masses. It certainly repositions some of my thinking on the sport. The daredevils performing are not en route to Starbucks for a mocha latte. This is hardcore. So will rollerblading make a revival? Will American skateboarders like our fashion designers follow this Parisian trend? Will average joes then pull out their dusty, buried-in-the-basement blades and go for a glide? Oui or Non?

Dutch Fun

Hema, a Dutch department store, brings us some fun domino-like interplay amongst a range of its store items. This webpage takes a second to begin, but once it gets going it's really quite funny. Although, I can't see any real purpose, other than entertaining its shoppers, this technique could potentially be a cool way to showcase a new product or help someone find a gift. Either way, it's a hoot.



Check it out here, http://producten.hema.nl/

Creating Together Apart

User-generated content has long been a big buzz word for marketers and the online world. Well, Tongal.com has put a new spin on this concept. Tongal enables people to create connected, yet separate aspects of user-generated content all for the common goal of winning some cash. Confused? Here's a video detailing exactly how Tongal works.



This is a great way for people of varying skill sets and passions to create something together. It's also a very interesting look at how people execute differently the same idea. And of course, the winning money part is where the incentive to participate comes in. Very cool. I look forward to seeing where this goes.