Visualize It

Words. Numbers. Data. Depending on how they're served up can make all the difference. Many Eyes, part of IBM's Collaborative User Experience group, has developed all kinds of cool, interesting ways to take your data and look at it with a fresh perspective. You can take charts, spreadsheets, speeches, your resume, emails, whatever and transform them in a way that causes you to digest it all from a different angle. It's also just fun to play with. I took some of the contents and description of my book, Die Happy, and "Wordled" them as they call it. Click below to see it in all its glory and to learn more about Many Eyes.

A new candidate to consider

A buddy of mine and I had been debating the merits of both Obama and McCain over the last week. He then sent me a link detailing a rising new star in the political arena. Click HERE to discover who it is.




Anyhow, this is a great use of technology. Share it with your friends as it adds some much needed comic relief as the election tension hits its boiling point.

Wii Fun

Check out Wii's Warioland Shake It on You Tube. The page literally shakes the whole site up. Words, banners, columns come crashing all around. Great use of YouTube to promote the game.

Click this link: Shake It to see it in all its glory.

Nike does it again

Even if you're not a football fan like me, you have to love this commercial. It begins with an ultrasound of a little guy flailing his little legs and then goes on to tell the tale and the destiny of two future NLF players. One is a runner, with grace, agility and a catch-me-if-you-can attitude. The other is a hard nose crusher of furniture and anything else that happens to get in his way. Cinematic. Inspiring. Fun. Nike at its best. Watch the end, not only how we flashback to the 2 little kids, but how LT and Troy show respect to one another. Great finish.

Stop and Listen to the Music

We all know that if Eric Clapton showed up in Penn Station with a guitar, amp and microphone, there would be an instant crowd. Heck, if Madonna lip-synced any one of her dumb songs, the masses stop and wait for the next train.

However, what if we took a Joshua Bell, consider one of the greatest violin players of our time, sells out concert halls everywhere where people pay $100 and up to hear his genius, and placed in your train station?

Well, that's exactly what he did at the L'ENFANT PLAZA STATION in Washington D.C. And sadly, commuters hardly broke stride as he'd played masterfully. Very interesting experiment with an unfortunate outcome for both Joshua and our ears.

This isn't a new story, but in case you missed as I did, here's the full Washington Post article and the video can be seen below.

Mentos and Carlsburg: Do Not Mix

Here's a pretty funny viral video... with a solid message that no one should be putting their good beer to waste.

Cars.com Plan B

You've all probably seen the cars.com commercials where people thankfully don't have to unleash their Plan B on various cars salesman. From the brownies laced with laxatives to the Witch Doctor with head shrinking power, these Plan B negotiation tactics are not to be messed. The campaign nicely positions cars.com as the place to empower yourself with car knowledge so that when you do buy a car, it's not that ugly back-and-forth BS that typically happens.

This campaign has now evolved with the Plan B characters pitching their oh-so-helpful services to you. Hilarious, indeed. See a few of them below. Great stuff.


Here's my favorite brownie spot.

For more go to cars.com/waitingroom

Share It With Style

I just discovered a great website called smilebox.com. It enables you to take your photos/videos and instantly create slideshows, ecards, scrapbooks, postcards and more. They supply you with an nice range of designs to choose from. You can add music and words. You can then share it interactively or have prints made.

This "how to" video of theirs could use a little more "smile" and excitement, but it shows you a little of what they can do.

Is it Monday Yet?

Typically, Monday is the most dreaded day of week. It signals the end of the weekend. It means it's time to head back to work. And when you look at your day calendar, Monday is just so very far away from Friday. Plus, as we all know, how Monday plays out at the office generally dictates the rest of week. Bad news and more work generally finds its way to your desk on Mondays.

ESPN, however, has a different take on Mondays. And they're giving football fans everywhere a reason to celebrate this once dog of a day. Check out some of their campaign below. Will we soon being saying, TGIM? Great work.

Is your butt worth $1,600?

Herman Miller has made a fortune off our sedentary lifestyles. His Aeron not only gave comfort to asses everywhere, but it changed the landscape of office furniture. Now old news and the prototype for copycats everywhere, the legendary Aeron is stepping aside as Herman launches the next big thing in sitting. The Embody is here.


With a skeletal design, it certainly looks very frickin' cool. On top of that, it lets you change the size of the seat. It conforms to your spinal curve (not sure what direction mine goes). And it allegedly will reduce your heart rate. Could be awfully helpful for those on Wall Street right now.

Herman Miller's Embody is also earth friendly, as it's made with 96% recyclable materials. Yet another way to make you feel good. The only question that remains... "Is your butt worth the $1600?" If you calculate the time spent in the chair, say 20 hours a week over 5 years, it's really only 31 cents a day. Herman would say yes. Your CFO probably no.

See more of it with this video from Fortune magazine's Paul Keegan.

Where did the time go?

Ever wonder exactly how many minutes you spent watching the latest Sarah Palin spoof videos or facebooking with your friends or writing a blog? Well, there are plenty of resources out there now happy to divulge the dirty details for you. Some more ready than others. The question is, can you handle the truth? Jack Nicholson might have that answer for you.

Flowingdata.com just listed 23 personal tools to track you online and computer life. Charts, graphs, twitter trackers... everything but mocking emails about your obsession with that one Family Guy clip or finding the truth about the island on Lost. Pretty scary, yet potentially a nice reality check for us all.

Plus, other online programs have been created to monitor your offline activity. Mint.com compiles all your spending in one place. Carchip.com follows your car. And yes, Bedposted.com can keep a tally on your carnal activities. You know, in case you forget that's it's been 2.5 weeks since you had reverse cowgirl sex in car with a co-worker... they'll thankfully remind you.

Top 5 Outdoor Ads Today

Some more creative use of space.

First, we have a very cool concept of personalizing your stamps. Although, it's a little egotistical for me, it's still fun. Then, we have this bus stop ad that so very clearly demonstrates that fun. Well done.


Ah, the "Simpson's living room" bus stop, if only Homer were there to serve you a couple cold Duff beers.


Beautiful demonstration of strong glass. I'll definitely be placing my very expensive collection of Hummels behind that glass. Kidding. However, I could see this idea expanding with the protection of the Holy Grail, the Constitution and of course the coveted and extremely valuable Honus Wagner baseball card.


Since this ad is foreign, I'm not exactly sure what it's for, but I believe is some kind of music station. Regardless, it makes me want to take my picture with it. And that's a sign of an effective ad.


Took me a second to figure this ad out. When I realized it was for a martial art studio, I instantly loved it. Total genius.

Silence the Stain

Tide To Go, the little Stain Stick that helps messy eaters and the spill prone everywhere, made a splash at last year's Super Bowl with a very well done Talking Stain spot. Now they've unleashed the idea for all to expand upon with a create-you-own-talking-stain contest. You can go to Tide.com to see some of the videos. The above Rapping Stain, by John Michael Sy a 26-year-old local accountant, took home the grand prize after beating out some 230 contestants.

Plus, you can add your own picture into the original commercial. See below. I added a picture of my son. This truly is technology and creativity joining forces in a fantastic way. The tagline may be "silence the stain," but the campaign is anything but.

Bergwood's Tailgate

You're in good hands at the Bergwood tailgate. Yes, this virtual stadium parking lot party from Allstate serves up college football fans with everything from taunting e-cards to harass your friends & their pitiful teams to video games to Bergchandise you can buy after accruing Bergchandise points on the site.

Hosted by a couple of goofball actors seen in the above video, the Bergwood tailgate is funny, interactive and has both a great viral component, as well as, a local presence with its nationwide tailgate tour. Go State!

Who's been googling me?

Admit it, we've all gone on to google, typed in the name of someone from our past and searched to see what they're up to. Well, have you ever wondered who's been trying to find the 411 on you? A couple of sites, primarily ziggs.com have been created to deliver that answer to you. I haven't signed on to any of these sites, mainly because it'd be demoralizing to get their weekly updates on how ZERO people have searched for me, but I am curious. See more.