Mass Media is Dead, What Now?

This is all I've been thinking about over the last few months: how to be the brightest wishing star in a universe where a new galaxy of content is spawned every day. Listen to what Gary Vaynerchuk has to say about it:



Actually, I think a cartoonist's skill set might be a real advantage; creating brief, concise, fearless statements that are saturated with irony and aimed at pushing emotional buttons.

The art of graphic seduction: logo design

In this day and age of $25 clip art and the ubiquitous sweep graphic, it pays to revisit what a logo is and does. This is a short, pretty basic but rather comprehensive piece on the subject.



To see some of my logo designs go here.

Roberson takes artificial intelligence Further.

Further: Beyond the Threshold by Chris Roberson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Found this book at a book sale, and it had a cover note from John Scalzi saying he'd been "reading Chris Roberson for years ... Welcome. Enjoy."

Well, I couldn't pass that up. And it turned out to be a great book.

I particularly liked Roberson's concept of the Human Entelechy that exists 12 thousand years in the future. Not only do AI's coexist with humans but so do uplifted apes, lions, killer whales and just about anything else, because sentience can inhabit any form — and for any of them not to be considered "human" would be discriminatory. This provides for some wild speculative fiction with interesting character interactions and fantastical imagery. Very fun reading. All the more so with Roberson's wit.

As the book progresses, it becomes more familiar. The plot and scenarios take on a Star Trek-like quality. Roberson's wit and some edgy villains are the only things that keep it fresh. Still, all in all, I liked it to the end, and agree with Scalzi. I'll read Roberson again; probably for years, and enjoy.


View all my reviews

The Wild West just got a little bit tamer.

California lawsuit changes Facebook's Like button policy and hamstrings the company's Sponsored Story advertising strategy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/technology/to-settle-suit-facebook-alters-policies-for-like-button.html?smid=pl-share

Jonathan Ive: Thank you Steve Jobs

Jonathan Ive spoke of working with Steve Jobs during the Steve Jobs Celebration at Apple in October, 2011. Jobs once called Ives his spiritual partner, and it's easy to see why. There are some wonderful sentiments in this speech about the fragility of ideas, and making products that seem simple and inevitable.

Gary Vayner-chuks Common Business Sense Out the Window

Anyone who is trying to market a small or regional business and is not familiar with Gary Vaynerchuck's hour long, wildly profane, humorous and disconcerting keynote speech at the Inc. 500 5000 conference last December, should be. It's not for the faint of heart, closed of mind or delicate of ear, but it may just be key to you figuring out how to compete against overwhelming big box corporatism in an increasingly Attention Deficit Disorder afflicted world.

That's right. I said it's an hour long. Bookmark it. Find the time and watch the whole thing, because even the Q&A at the end is a wake-up call, and a clear indication of just how set in our ways we are.

Artist's Run-over Cat Drones On

This Dutch artist found his cat flat in the middle of the road and decided to save him for posterity ... as a helicopter. Now, not only is it dead, but it's viral.