A Second Life Leads to a First Divorce

Turns out chatting is cheating, especially when that chatting leads to pixels in vectors in the game Second Life. A British couple recently divorced after the wife found out that the husband was cheating on her with an avatar lady of the night in the online game Second Life. My favorite part? The "virtual" private eye who was hired to track the comings and goings of the cheater.

It really should come as no surprise to the jilted lover, who met the lothario in the same game online.

"The couple met in an internet chat room in May 2003 and within six months Ms Taylor had moved from London to Mr Pollard's flat in Newquay, Cornwall. They married at a register office in St Austell in July 2005 and held a virtual wedding for their avatars in Second Life. While their online characters are young, and slim, in real life there is a lot more to Ms Taylor and the balding Mr Pollard."

What a beautiful sleight in the above paragraph. As only a Brit could pull off.

But it does bring up the question, "What is cheating?"

As we move into an era of more and more digital interaction, do the things we do online constitute genuine interaction? Even on To Catch a Predator they have to arrest the dirty pedophiles when they show up at the homes as it shows intent to follow through with written action.

But in a game that mimics real life, does fidelity count? If the man had been playing Grand Theft Auto IV and gotten a lap dance, would that have been cheating? I can see how two people who met on Second Life feel that a Second Life faux-romance is in fact a real romance. After all, it's the medium that brought them together. Surely, for the man to find another lover in the same medium is cheating, is it not?

These are the questions of our times. But fret not, the misses is ok. It seems she has started a new romance with someone else...whom she met online in World of Warcraft.

My attempt at product review

Video games. Or are they?

Go here.

Download for whatever OS you use.

Play the game.

Then try this game.

And his latest game.

Then go to the site of the guy who made them.

Cool.

Transparency of Politic

By now, hopefully all my loyal readers (yes that was tongue-in-cheek) are aware that Barack Obama is President-elect of the United States of America.

As I was pondering this momentous occasion and all of its facets: his youth, his inexperience in the Washington scene, his race and other issues, one stood out to me that I think deserves a closer look.

Transparency. Obama manged to raise millions upon millions of dollars over the Internet Seth Godin has a nice blog post on the marketing of the election and how it relates to marketing in general. But one thing he doesn't touch on is what I see as a sea-change in the power structure of the United States.

For years, Gen Y has been talked about as the next big thing economically. We had our successful Boomer parents' money and influenced many a purchase. And then we started making our own money and still using our parents' resources. But in the last election, we didn't really impact a change at the polls. This time around, however, we might have been the deciding factor with record registration and record voting numbers seen throughout the nation. Which begs the question of why?

In my mind, it's because we felt involved every step of the way. Obama (and I might add Republican candidate Ron Paul) was masterful in his use of the internet to bring an air of transparency and openness to his campaign. Not only did this allow internet savvy youngsters to empower themselves and their friends, but it allowed for instantaneous reaction from Obama supporters financially and conversationally.

We've seen examples of this in other companies as well. Starbucks started their idea blog which allows fanatic customers to post their ideas on new products, operations improvements and everything else under the Starbucks sun.

But I digress. What I wanted to focus on was the fact that transparency has worked for Obama. It is my hope that he continues to keep the lines of communication open with America. In my opinion that access is something that has been missing for far to long and has helped to create the culture of fear we reside in as a lack of knowledge led to ignorance which led to fear.

If this flickr post from Obama of his family on Election Night is any indication, I think we can keep hope alive.

O-Bam-a!

Real Simple? Not if you don't understand it.

Saw this post over at lifehacker.com:

A new report shows use of RSS feeds growing from two to 11 percent in the past three years. The key finding, though, is only 17 percent of the 89 percent who don't use RSS are interested in learning how, indicating a possible peak. What do you see as RSS' main barrier to popularity, and how could it be fixed (or replaced)?

The premise is actually something I've been thinking about for some time now. In a world of too much information, how can you make things both digestible and relevant? RSS should be the answer. Personally, I use Google Reader. It provides an easy way to get all 40 of the blogs and sites I read in one place where I can zip through and pull out what's relevant. Everything from Influx Insights to BBC Americas.

So what's holding 89% of people back? Is it the joy of surfing the web and going through your preferred blogs one by one? Doubtful. In my mind (and it seems Forrester's mind) people just don't get how it works. Which is ridiculous because for the most part actually setting up a feed stream is ridiculously easy. My thought is that people aren't willing to push other available technology to allow consumers to get the information that brands desire to push. Why not create a video on how to set up Google Reader? You'd not only be helping people adopt a software-less platform that will show them the future of computing, but you'll be providing them with MARKETING AS SERVICE and endearing yourself to the people you want to talk to.

As Cialdini's work shows us: one of the most powerful influencers is reciprocity. If I give you something you feel indebted to me. And what better than the gift of information?

I AM AN INDIVIDUAL

One of our clients in an online printing shop. You know, personalized business cards, letterhead, all that jazz. The idea is to create things that represent who you are. But what if you could actually make things your own?

Now you can thanks to this site I came across. Just plug in some basic info, badda-bing, you've got a barcode that represents you as an individual. Basically an ID you could keep anywhere and on anything you own.

Here's mine.

Anonymous Secritude

Thanks to a friend's desire for Dunn Brothers coffee this morning, I made my first trip to the Minneapolis Central Public Library today. A Cesar Pelli architectural project, the building itself is a masterpiece. Clean. Focused on the books. Plenty of natural light. It's a calm and inviting space.

But what really stood out was an exhibit entitled Post Secret. The basic premise is that people send postcards with their deepest secrets on them anonymously and they are posted to a blog. Some of the better ones (better being relative, I found some darkly humorous, some disturbing and some beautifully cathartic) are showcased in the exhibit. I highly recommend it to anyone in the area.





I was overwhelmed by the general misery that came through the notes. It seems that 75% of them were concerened with horrible things that happened like rape, drug abuse, self-inflicted damage, etc. But the channel that Post Secret provides for release certainly helps those sending in such damning thoughts. It brought to mind another article that my friend had sent me regarding what we have lost in the 21st century. Especially the ability to connect. It was horrible to see that many people felt the need to reveal these secrets in the only way they knew how: anonymously and to no one in particular. I left considering just how much better off we would be if we could simply talk to each other with no fear of repurcussion or judgement. We all have secrets and things we aren't proud of. Getting them off our chests to a confidant would certainly help mitigate the need for anti-depressants and heavy medication.

Post your own. See how it feels.

Throwback

I was never one of those rich kids who had things like Mario Paint. I guess I came from the kind of family where if I wanted to paint I would get some paint and paint.

But I now regret that all (kind of). Turns out a plethora of skilled artists have been using the Mario Paint Composer program to compose contemporary and old songs. The selection is truly across the board with everything from Darude - "Sandstorm" to War - "Lowrider."

My choice to introduce you to it, Snoop - "Drop it Like It's Hot."

I think the idea behind this is really interesting. When most of us had access to Mario Paint, we didn't have the patience or ability to think of using it in ways like this. But with the proliferation of the slasher I'm good at everything culture we've all become accustomed to Garage Band, Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. Mario Paint was just a beta version of all of these things. Which begs the question, what else from our past will become cool in our present? Popsicle stick sculpture?

It speaks for itself

The image is the link.
The link is the image.

BADM

That stands for Bloggers Against Drunk Mailing. And it's what I would have named my organization had I been the one to come up with the genius idea of creating a challenge type program that creates mental hurdles for you to jump before you can log into Gmail and send those late night messages we all regret.

The premise is simple, do some math problems, prove you're not drunk, send email. Fail some math problems, prove you are intoxicated, don't send email.

Customizable so it only activates at prime drunk-mailing time, Mail Goggles (yes, it is a brilliant name) works with your wacky, Bacchanal schedule.

Check it out here at the official Gmail Blog.

Blast from the past, doncha know?

Remember Garbage Pail Kids? Remember the giant presidential election happening right now?

What if you mixed the two together? You'd probably get something like this.

Sweet.

Speechification: Politics Unusual

So here we are in the midst of the 2008 election season. To date, the best speech I've seen is the unfortunately un-focused on diatribe given by Dennis Kucinich (Ohio's favorite leprechaun) at the DNC.



In terms of rhetoric, I thought it was beautifully written. "Borrowed money to bomb bridges in Afghanistan and Iraq. No money to rebuild bridges in America." Boom goes the dynamite. Hope you had fun as a potential VP Pawlenty. That's where you lost it and McCain decided to go with everyone's favorite hockey mom slash diplomat.

But then someone came along and did it in a different way, and while it might not have been better, it was definitely different and intriguing. A beautiful mix of the freak out videos of the 60's with the ability of technology to quickly allow anyone with a computer to make a statement within minutes.

I...can't...believe...it.

They say that 99% of success is showing up. In the case of one William Shatner, that seems to be true. Thanks to a trip down memory lane from actor Christopher Plummer, it has recently come to light that with a little luck (and a healthy dose of syphilis) you can forge a path to stardom. Check out the article here.

For those further interested in the beauty that is William Shatner, I encourage you to read his autobiography: Up Til Now.

Live long and prosper, indeed.

No One Understands

I came across an article in Monday's USA Today regarding the lack of empathy emitted from US doctors in patient-focused settings. The basic gist is that physicians responded to more existential questions from their patients concerning the nature of life, death, etc., with empathy only 10% of the time. While physicians were adept at diagnoses, prescription of medication and all other technical aspects of their job, their bedside manner seemed lacking. But so what? It's not like doctor's are in a service industry right?

I disagree. If we look at a line up of 100 docs and only 5 of them have the ability and tact to service the whole patient and not just the shells that are our bodies, my assumption is those 5 will receive the bulk of patients. With access and records and patient driven reviews becoming more and more important in how we choose care, the ability for a care provider to help us stay positive and look at the minutiae of life will rise on the list as the technical skills even out. And not only that, but the power of positive thinking is being shown more and more to affect patient outcome.

Look at cell phones. I know plenty of people who have switched providers simply because the service was horrible. Not the transmission of radio waves between towers but the, "I'm on the phone trying to figure out why I got charged $90 for SMS messaging last month service but I can't understand the person on the other end of the line and they don't seem to really give a shit about me," service.

To me, this is really no different than the doctor scenario. The question then becomes is it fair to ask doctors to also develop a skill set in general psychology along with a 7-year specialization in cardiothorasic surgery? Is it fair to ask that your cell phone carrier have great customer service? Or should they be relegated to providing excellent coverage only? With regards to mobiles and doctors, I don't know, but I bet those that don't won't be as successful in the long run.

I didn't want to...

But after watching this video on the marketing expertise of Radiohead, I had to.

Watch it. It's worth it. It's interesting to see how keeping something simple and giving fans (customers) the tools to engage leads to (GASP!) engagement. Why make it hard to do a UGC remix? The people doing it already love you. Others will trickle in and either convert or be impressed.

So, now that I've achieved the basic find a nugget of insight that someone else already found and repost it, I'll move on to my own. Luck for us, it also involves online marketing so we won't have to completely shift gears.

Seventh Generation, makers of natural home cleaning products, recently launched a digital campaign. Banner ads. Microsite. All that jazz. Nothing earth shattering about that.

But there's also a page for "Show What's Inside" which is where I think things get interesting. It seems like every day we hear about a new chemical that causes cancer or speeds the aging process or is just generally bad for you. Obiously, part of Seventh Generation's deal is NOT having that problem by avoiding things that are toxic. But, even with the whole natural focus, they still have some ingredients that the average Joe or Jane wouldn't know. And compared to the rest of the playing field, SG's product ingredient lists read llike haiku versus Petrarchian sonnets.

Answer? Create a widget for PC that allows you to look up ingredients. Even better, make that widget mobile so you can put it on your phone and TAKE IT WITH YOU TO THE STORE. Now I don't know what their market is because I didn't plan for this, but my assumption is Gen X, a few kids, "care about the environment," trying to be organic, definitely have a cell phone (probably a smart phone) and willing to look into things as a skeptic. That's gut though. Should that be the case, this work is brilliant because it allows naturally curious consumers to assess the claims of SG vs. the big guys and choose SG based on merit alone.

Educate the consumer. Help them make objective decisions. Engage them on a natural level in a natural setting. Get a customer.

http://www.quantcast.com/seventhgeneration.com

Don't Toss Me Bro!!!

Mmmm! Lunch time. Tummy rumbling. Mouth watering. Head thinking, "I'm sure going to enjoy that food I brought in yesterday but didn't get to because I went out for lunch."

The glint of the refrigerator light sneaking through the gap as you open the door. Searching, searching, searching for that delicious pile of meat, bread, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mustard and onion you begin to become frantic as you can't find it.

Suddenly, a light goes on in your head!

"I bet some son-of-a-bitch ate my sandwich! Some disrespectful a-hole decided he/she was soooo hungry that they couldn't walk across the street and get their own sandwich. And since mine was in here for a WHOLE DAY, of course I didn't want it. Why would I want a DAY OLD sandwich? I mean eww right. Except that I did want it. And I want to eat MY GODDAMN SANDWICH RIGHT NOW! But I can't because your lazy ass couldn't get his/her own food."

No more my friends. No more.

Some genius has done an exemplary job of new product development. Someone who has been on the front lines of the no-lunch-in-the-fridge battle. It's a sandwich bag - with what appears as mold printed on the outside.

That's right, camo for your submarine. Personally, I think it's genius. A simple idea with the power to change interoffice dynamics.

Check out the Anti-Theft Lunch Bag. Order it.

Your only problem now is the office mom tossing it in the trash prematurely.

Herrro?

"So then, after I graduated from college, like, I totally, like didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. So then I started, you know, waitressing and it was, like, so much fun! I don't really, you know, read books. I think they're so outdated. Because, well, you know....."

BOOOOOOOO.

A bad date. Meeting the significant other's friends for the first time. Having to wash your grandmother's feet with Epsom salts. Used to be, you had to talk with a friend to get them to call you at a prearranged date and time. You'd make up your half of the conversation. They'd say dumb things on the other end so you could create some semblance of a conversational banter.

No more. Now there's getmooh.com. The name is an acronym that stands for Get Me Out Of Here. And it does just that in theory. You pick a time and date. You enter a phone number to call. getmooh.com calls it. Done. So far, the only drawbacks I can see is that it's free. And I say drawback because that means you can only do two calls a day. But, perhaps in the near future there will be a paid option that will allow them to purchase more minutes for mayhem...

Please use getmooh responsibly.

Genius

It's the simple things in life. Coffee that is hot but not scalding. Your girlfriend cleaning her hair out of the shower drain. Your media player making a playlist for you based on the kind of song you are in the mood for?

That's right people, iTunes 8 is here. And while I'm not usually a tech guy in terms of egregious promotion, the Genius function is pretty darn cool. Basically, it takes a song you choose and then builds a playlist around it using online information, other iTunes user preferences and song selection and your song library. Heck, it even tells you what songs you should download (there's got to be something in it for them) to round out your ideal list. Not earthshattering, but pretty darn nice.

"Keep doing different things until you find one you love."

That's a quote from my grandfather as it relates to the world of work. But I felt it quite appropriate to this story about Nepalese man working on wife number 25! Turns out 1-24 kept eloping with lovers. It must be hard to have that many women just not GET you. But, you keep on dating women 20 years younger than you and eventually it works out. Congrats Ramchadaran!

BUT

what I really wanted to post about is this: CREATURES FROM EARTH SURVIVING IN SPACE!!! You might be thinking, "Cool story Hansel, but I'm pretty sure we all saw that in 1969 when the Apollo landed on the moon bro." But I'm not talking spacesuits and radiation-proof walls. I'm talking tough-ass critters with the ability to shut down their bodies to survive the most extreme conditions. Basically, they meditate themselves into safety and come back when it's safe. And they're referred to as Water Bears, how cute is that!

Anyways, scientists exposed them to cosmic radiation and the vacuum of space and most of them survived. Some of them even managed to survive the 1000x stronger solar radiation they were exposed to and were able to reproduce successfully upon return to Earth.

So what's the cool thing? Besides being similar to Sea Monkeys in the ability to shut down their metabolic processes, scientists believe that the Water Bears can repair their own DNA to counteract any ill-effects. That means payoff for us humanoids if we can figure out how. Definitely better than this situation.

www.umbrellatoday.com

Over the past few days here in Minneapolis, fall has snuck up on us like an estranged baby-momma on MoPo: "You are the father!!! [SMACK!!]" Yesterday, September 7th, was a perfect example of the bipolar weather patterns. With highs of sunny and warm and lows of cold and drizzle. While it made for a decent biking day, overall it just messed with ones emotions. And of course, as I enter the work week, the questions and continual overcast begs the question,

"Do I bring an umbrella today?"

If you're like me, you don't know what channel is the weather channel, don't have a weather forecasting umbrella, and don't like using your cell phone to hop on the interweb and find out. Luckily, there's an easier way. Thanks to the kids over at Lifehacker I came across this cool little widget: Umbrella Today?

The name, which brings to mind the inquisitive stylings of our Ecuadorian cleaning lady, says it all. Simply type in your ZIP code and it tells you if you need an umbrella. Don't have access to a PC early in the morning? No prob, you can enter your cell number and it will shoot you a text at a time you designate informing you of the days brolly needs.

No more guesswork. No more wet heads. Bon apetit!