Just absolutely genius. BMW gets inside a cinema audiences' head. http://bit.ly/gAInnH

Really? It's called learn and adapt! Darwinism! Senate approves Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, ensures noise pollution. http://tinyurl.com/3ajncj5

Mr. Obama, now would be a good time to point fingers and call shots. Senate bid to end gay ban fails http://tinyurl.com/323bx8w

US concern at frisking of India envoy. Why are we concerned? This is how it is in the US. Equality! http://tinyurl.com/2fj3cny

Yeah pets! Seems the bonds we form with animals form us as well. http://tinyurl.com/2dsq2w4

Yeah! That's exactly what we wanted Mr. President. Obama Tax Deal Wins Praise From Business-Lobby http://ping.fm/sBeBc

Ah the power of the human mind and cognitive dissonance: Disease Images May Not Deter Smoking, Study Shows - BusinessWeek http://ping.fm/XjF6e

Somebody should get this quote to all the Dems who voted for Obama. This is what we are up against.

"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries … and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it."

– Niccolo Machiavelli

Why Americans Love Overdraft Fees. Hint: Ego. @TheAtlantic http://tinyurl.com/2fthsqu

The key to better teams at work? Build them asshole free. (via BNET). http://tinyurl.com/39me3hp

Cool post from Garth Kay. BSSP brings Dali to life via Hipstamatic. Genius idea. Stop creating and start curating! The value/power is in the ideas people. http://tinyurl.com/35v3pe4

Love the power of the new Stella Black "Night Chaffeur (sp?)" campaign. An experience you'll never forget. We need more of that. http://ping.fm/a8xyK

Was Fuller a cat? Scientists Reveal How Cats Lap So Well http://ping.fm/b4cfs

Interesting twist on the social network via Path. Limited to 50 friends. Check it out. http://ping.fm/PoL4p

BBC News - US unveils anti-smoking scare photos on cigarette boxes http://ping.fm/L4tma

RT @HarvardBiz The future of location-based media? Measurement and correlation as a foundation for sales. @ http://bit.ly/a09HgC

Fable III: Revolution. Love this spot. Thoughts? http://ping.fm/IdiCI

Gimme Pizza Slow: We live in amazing times. http://ping.fm/nft1h

Watch box to food box. Cool concept. http://ping.fm/462as

Check out the referenced presentation on consumer trends. Spot on. @ZeusJones http://ping.fm/BXrHs

iPhone replaces momma? http://ping.fm/EY33p

Check out the latest on #pooptube. (Not what you think). Why does this exist?! Who created this and how are they making money, because I want in! http://pooptube.com/

It's official America, we have too much. The end is near.

The Fanboy Factor: Brands are the new religion...for some. I've been preaching something similar for a bit. http://tinyurl.com/28hwp85

What type of consumer are you? @marketplace has a tool to tell you. http://ping.fm/5806r

Michelle Obama Urges Restaurants to Step Up, I comment from the background. What do you think? http://ping.fm/dEx1A

Radiohead’s + Crowdsourced = amazing things that happen when you trust in your consumers. http://ping.fm/7lO4l

The picture IS a thousand words. Hunt Adkins does Steelcase right. http://ping.fm/t0PV7

Smoking baby reportedly has quit. Altria sad. http://ping.fm/8EYdA

22tracks: New tunes, 22 at a time. http://ping.fm/DJUuu

Learning About Marketing Through Physics - PSFK http://ping.fm/S5GVo

RT@psfk Nonstop Screen Time = Overload http://ping.fm/9kJta

The beauty of data visualization: McCandless on TED.com http://ping.fm/xyV5g

Piece from the bossman: How Millennials can change Madison Av. @StarTribune.com http://ping.fm/f7yHi

The Fiction of Facebook: Art meets life meets art. http://ping.fm/847H4

US school road marking spelled wrognly. http://ping.fm/lTg6K

Pea plant grows inside man's lung. Doctors say it's an act of Pod. http://ping.fm/X4jAu

Interesting piece on memorization and the learning process. http://ping.fm/yXceF

It's like 50s America. Monorails, rocketships, bus-eating-cars. http://ping.fm/kOyzh

BBC News - Cool down in New York with a dip in a dumpster http://ping.fm/pywMi

Just heard about the Candle Problem. Interesting. What's your CP? http://ping.fm/JWXH7

Using Skype for the first time. Kind of late to the party, but...so far so good.

Get more out of a single. Make it your own. Cool remix ability from Pet Shop Boys via mxp4.com http://ping.fm/wpgOd

Cool event in Uptown Mpls tonight. Check it. http://give-take.org/

Simon Sinkek on How great leaders inspire action. Start with why! RT@edwardharran @janstewart http://tinyurl.com/23uw825

It's like a steampunk Myst. Awesome, I think... http://ping.fm/yFEFF

Making social media work. Relevance + Resonance = Significance. http://ping.fm/7qQ73

"HIPSTER!" http://ping.fm/yBm9d

Smooth. Street Artist Proposes. http://ping.fm/8auOT

Picture this as a navigation system... http://ping.fm/FmZLx

This Old Spice campaign is just amazingly entertaining. I still don't want to buy it, but I'm glad someone is financing this.

Google on Social Networking. We're not all "friends." Great report. http://ping.fm/kPTet

Spent the night talking with David Drummond http://ping.fm/ChPDU Only in Aspen.

Saw Fred Dust of IDEO at #aif2010. He said download this. I did. http://ping.fm/60fZ1

Just had lunch by Walter Issacson. No big deal.

I feel my McNugget intake experiencing a dramatic dropoff. http://ping.fm/YPOpn

A great look at advertising via being useful. Crazy, I know. http://ping.fm/AlDvb

Robyne Robinson is doing remarkably well in the lt. Governor debate. Not a lot of jewelry though. Embrace it girl!

Take this quiz and calculate your F-score. It'll tell you how to use your natural triggers to persuade others. Mine are Lust and Vice. Yowsa! http://ping.fm/PTshu

Gamers Have Bodies Of '60-Year-Old Chain Smokers' (STUDY) http://ping.fm/Iimix

Draw on: People who doodled while listening to a monotonous message recalled 29% more information than non-doodlers on a surprise memory test, according to a study in Applied Cognitive Psychology cited by blogger Eric Barker.

Be unreasonable. 16 techniques for innovation from Edward Harran http://ping.fm/cfkIM

Thanks to @criticalmass for the tip. Great overview of how the brain should effect webdesign. http://ping.fm/n4d8W

Donate Your Dog and Cat Hair to Clean Up the Oil Spill | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World http://ping.fm/Pz26a

Major Bike Mojo in Minneapolis http://ping.fm/d9Tq7

HA! Microsoft Education Competencies: Humor http://ping.fm/LRss4

Big Boss Man Talks About The Benefit of Hindsight in Starting an Agency. http://ping.fm/odxq8

Mpls.TV takes on May Day and emerges the victor. http://ping.fm/vugJW

Watching Ancient Aliens on History Channel. Interesting.

Mobile Post

Watching Ancient Aliens on History Channel. Very interesting.

Me want iPhone IR remote. http://ping.fm/yeaL3

If a dog can be green, why not you? http://ping.fm/qqy71

Great Iceland volcano pics from the Boston Herald. http://ping.fm/9YLOx

Considering attending Mpls Pecha Kucha tonight. http://ping.fm/529O0

Cool online streaming music based on moods. http://ping.fm/eg3q6

Cool tool for finding your next book. http://ping.fm/Twi68

A sign if the US's youth that we didn't make the list. Or maybe we just learned from others' mistakes. If only there were some national crisis of sorts we could apply that thinking to... http://ping.fm/tOPvJ

Concealed weapons. Ah, the beauty of online interaction. http://ping.fm/b5lm4

Q: Why do boarding passes have to suck? A: They don't. http://ping.fm/08QgD

See if you can think of the songs you know these drum breaks from http://ping.fm/p247s

Cool idea on making something as sad as a lost camera a fun experience. http://ping.fm/3jC5I

Delicious look at flags. http://ping.fm/BBlTB

Nice primer on how to approach first contact with ALF. http://ping.fm/SqeXM

Confused as to why we need a bill at all? Seems like common sense not to sell nicotine products to minors. http://ping.fm/CeTKL

LaHood hits backlash over alt transport plans. Probably similar to people who were against steamships. http://ping.fm/r55rA

@ the MOMA. The newest addition. http://ping.fm/ckD09

It never fails: You finally take time out of your life to wash the car and it rains. Has to be some barometric science behind it.

An amazing story: Auto-appendectomy in the Antarctic: case report -- Rogozov and Bermel 339: b4965 -- BMJ http://ping.fm/vfboj

Job post for a friend: NEEDED! Smart, motivated, hungry individual with an interest in working on mobile - specifically analytics. Doesn't need to have direct experience in mobile analytics, but relevant experience would be nice.

Interested? Let me know.

Why You Shouldn't Buy an iPad (Yet) | Work Smart | Fast Company http://ping.fm/Lj0Yu

From iPad Wikipedia article: "3G service provided...by AT&T and sold with two prepaid contract-free data plan options: one for unlimited data and the other for 250 MB/month at half the price. The plans will be activated on the iPad itself and can be canceled at any time."

How long before this is standard?

What's in a name? According to this study, a lot. I'm ok with it. http://ping.fm/J7X7q

Via BrandChannel.com: For the love of funny. Using humor in online marketing...or in general. http://ping.fm/uI7k6

For the love of funny. Using humor in online marketing...or in general. http://ping.fm/dUe04

Line2 Allows iPhone Users to Sidestep AT and T - NYTimes.com http://ping.fm/6TQFU

Cause if there's one thing we know, it's that without trees there is no sex. http://ping.fm/HrbLh

Social media, bubbles and the future of #social #technology. http://ping.fm/YMLwY

An eloquent run down of how conservatives can regain stature and trust. http://ping.fm/oZzBi

Food subsidies vs. RDA. No wonder we're all fat. Health starts here America, garbage in = garbage out. http://ping.fm/XvQsi

Dead Mario And Crucified Jesus - Mario - Kotaku http://ping.fm/P9H6z

New Bike Share System by RAFAA (CH) @ Dailytonic http://ping.fm/vf1lz

Cool reinterpretations of city maps via NYTimes http://ping.fm/vKhJ8

Mobile Post

I think I forgot how to meet people. Or did I ever know?

Progressives Shouldn't Follow Kucinich on Health Care | The Progressive http://ping.fm/XBTrc

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But Apple seems to think differently. http://ping.fm/W5jZg

Watching MTV True Life: I support my family. Sad and awe-inspiring what these young folks do. Truly amazing. http://ping.fm/rCnm0

Wal-Mart Runs Smack Into Behavioral Economics http://ping.fm/fz1cR

Wal-Mart Runs Smack Into Behavioral Economics

Interesting post from Brandchannel.com on the effect of SKU rationalization on consumer shopping habits. Or to put it in everyday terms: What happens when you remove options from people's lives.

The basic gist is that Wal-Mart, in an attempt to lower costs storewide, implemented a program of losing products that weren't selling well and providing economies of scale. Not a bad move from the world's biggest retailer, especially one who bases much of their process on suppliers taking initiative and actually providing the right amount of product at the right time. That shelf space if valuable, so if something ain't selling it ain't making Wal-Mart money.

So the Big Box started losing the losing products. And found that customers started to leave as well. Turns out people come to Wal-Mart for everything AND very specific things. And if those very specific things aren't to be found....well then what's stopping you from going somewhere else for everything.

To quote the brandchannel.com article:

Rather than buying a similar product or brand – but not the exact one customers had an attachment to – for $1 more at Wal-Mart, shoppers instead skipped shopping at Wal-Mart altogether and went to competitors that carried their favorite products. It turns out certain sizes and flavors for many food products are game-changing factors for shoppers, and that reality wasn't lost on Wal-Mart. According to Simon, “[We] lose an $80 basket or a $60 basket and not just the dollar for the one-pound brown rice.”

WM quickly pulled a Tropicana and has started to restock some of the items that led to brand attrition on its shelves again.

But the bigger question is: Why did customers leave in the first place?

Personally I think there are some interesting things to look at here. One is the concept of familiarity. In a world where everything is "new, improved, better, the ultimate!!!!!!" it's nice to know you can go to your "friendly, neighborhood store" (and yes, WM is that for some people) and get things you like. If they happen to be cheap, so much the better. And in this time of recession, little things like the brown rice you enjoy or the soft drink you care for in an 8oz can are the tiny luxuries that make life just a bit easier. To lose those means questioning the whole idea that your nice neighborhood store is that at all. 

Related to, but not exactly the same, is personal relationships. For some people I'm sure seeing something they look for everytime disappear overnight was a harsh reminder that this big box retail giant is just that: A huge corporation that doesn't care one iota about them as a consumer. In this age of personalization and instant communication, I think people stand for that less and less.

So, what could WM have done to turn this oops into an opp? One of the first things that comes to mind is use it as a chance to drive more online sales. For many of Wal-Mart's suppliers, the shelf is simply rented space as WM doesn't actually take ownership of the product until the moment of sale. This is, therefore, a perfect opportunity to keep that rent down by offering online only items and turning this streamlining plan into a chance to get more people more familiar with online shopping. Throw out free shipping on orders over $100 and create some examlple carts for a normal family of 4. Push convenience and regularity and let the in-store experience be a more spur of the moment, as-needed shopping time. As someone who regularly goes into Target (I'm from Minneapolis) I know that a pack of TP often turns into $150 of crazy.

At the end of the day I'm glad Wal-Mart had this happen to them. They are definitely one of the few companies who are analytics driven enough to take notice and make a positive change. And I'm sure they will figure out how to turn old product into new profit channels.

Pax vobiscum. 

NYC in miniature video: Beautiful. http://ping.fm/BzUEh

Betty White to host SNL. Can't wait for the kissing family skit and a potential What Up Wit Dat! http://ping.fm/JCHLk

So this is what rested feels like. I could get used to it.

Candy Decision Tree. Favorite part is Japan = KitKat. http://ping.fm/YUTuF

Fighting through cynicism and mounting an attack on the finish line.

5 Futuristic Applications that Are Here NOW : Innovation :: American Express OPEN Forum http://ping.fm/3u4rU

Thanks to Hertz and Delta for helping me soak in another 3 hours of sunny LA. At LAX. Inside. Alone.

Going through some brand positioning work with a client right now. This HBR post on defining one's purpose in a sentence couldn't be more timely. http://ping.fm/zPR0K

HBR post on visualizing Twitter twattle. Some cool ideas and great tools. http://ping.fm/weVr4

What happens when you're laid off? Life beings. Ad focused but good for everyone who's been there. http://ping.fm/6yOZe

At the airport. Surrounded by travellers to Mexico. Jealous.

New business a friend has launched. Great idea. Check out Fabuliss...Success with Style http://fabuliss.com/

Unicorn = Cool. Samauri = Cool. Unicorn Samauri = ? http://ping.fm/9XNCl

Vancouver medals are made from e-waste. How perfectly, sensibly Canadian. http://ow.ly/17ZSM

Interesting article on Innovation. Lessons learned: Keep it clear. Keep it concise. Draw on examples from other industries to learn new ways of thinking and acting. http://ping.fm/NXcnb

Dating site uses information to teach about dating. Genius way to improve actual realworld skills and interactions instead of just focusing online. http://ping.fm/GZehi

Not sure what I think of this "look into the future of advertising." Seems a little much. http://ping.fm/uZD5W

Great pro-healthcare poster http://ping.fm/pnSPh

For some reason, this game intrigues me: Glitch http://glitch.com/

Also found this NFL spot moving. It truly is amazing that human beings can do things like this. http://ping.fm/U8d8S

Everything about this KIA ad is badass. Perfect soundtrack choice. http://ping.fm/S3gJc

While we may tweet about the mundane, it's our ability to still connect while worlds away that is important. Think Haiti. Think Iran. Even FOX News is only 15% news. Take that HBR! http://blogs.hbr.org/davenport/2010/02/lets_tweet_about_something_imp.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-WEEKLY_HOTLIST-_-FEB_2010-_-HOTLIST0208&referral=00202

The teaching organization. 37signals free book. Share the process, get feedback, start a dialogue by standing for something. http://ping.fm/zdmzE

New work by Seth Godin and friends: What Matters Now. Download it. http://ping.fm/ZqcNd

The ugliest website in existence? http://ping.fm/3kXf7

Jobs' Secrets: How to Present http://ping.fm/n3bWy

Saying yes yes to The XX http://ping.fm/ymcvj

Hey Minnesota, we need this winter. And here's why: http://ping.fm/8vAGx

Top Green Movement Videos. It's great to see creativity doing something good. http://tinyurl.com/ycnnoqp

Go to Community Involvement. It eats crack houses. Suck on that McGruff. http://ping.fm/D1hwU

And in case you don't like Pentagram's choice, try this: http://ping.fm/5SokL

Pentagram helps you learn about yourself through fonts. Password: character http://tinyurl.com/yh5kq8d