Venue Discovery with Location Awareness

Foursquare, a mobile social networking game that gets users to "check in" at places they visit in the real world, has experienced explosive growth. While people are acquiring mayorships in droves in the US and the UK, bold users in other countries are marking their territory as well.

While we're all in search of those elusive badges or fighting to retain those mayorships, the real value of Foursquare may be much, much more.  For people traveling abroad, it's been a brilliant source of current advice and tips.

Having travelled a good amount, I'm always cautious of my research before getting into the country. Some sites and listings haven't been updated for years, and its not when you get there that a) the place no longer exists, b) the venue isn't what it was like in 2008, c) the crowd is vastly different.

I always check my check-out list with locals just to make sure.

With Foursquare, I have easy access to local tour guides. The desire to recommend and be "in the know" knows no boundaries.  Each mayor is potential guide. Here are a few new mayors in Montevideo, where I'm currently traveling.

Surfing through their postings, I can quickly find where I need to be on Thursday Nights. Looks like Francisco V thinks I should head to Lou Bizzarro Bar on Thursday night.

3D provides depth to the bottom line, for now

Originally posted on the Berkeley DMEC blog page.

The movie industry is experience some better times with box offices revenues already running 8.8% ahead of 2009 figures (itself a $10B year). A huge driver has been the versioning for 3D and IMAX for tent-pole movies.  Increased traffic for 3D coupled with significant price increases (reported as much as a 26% bump) have continued to feed the hype.  This has been some positive news in terms as revenue as studios expect a 12% drop in DVD sales.

The question is how marginal traffic will making a 3D movie bring in?

With How to Train Your Dragon opening at 27% lower than Dreamwork’s Monster Vs. Aliens may indicate that new features like 3D may not necessarily trump good ole word of mouth. Indeed, the willingness to pay for a superior 3D experience for the family may not be enough to cover the $40-$60 required to take a family to the movies.

To convert a 3D movie, it takes studios an estimated $30 M, will the ROI remain? Wish three more 3D movies coming down this season’s pipeline, 3D may fast becoming the new normal.

Research Shows... [Data validity]

We've entered a linked information world. The emphasis for information distribution isn't focused on creation but the aggregation and filtering of information. The splicing, rebroadcasting, linking, editing, aggregation becomes one lengthy game of information telephone. We'll often take it for face value and begin quoting it for our own use. For example, given the current testimonials for the auto industry, the 1 in 10 US jobs tied to the industry has been given a lot of press. However, with some casual searching you'll find this on Economix, a NY Times blog.

Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent, writes in Times Higher Education about the assumptions, and sketchy data the term: "research shows"

As someone devoted to academic research, I feel increasingly embarrassed when I encounter the words "research shows" in a newspaper article...Last month a study by John Alford of Rice University proved that right-wing Americans are likely to be far more nervous than left-wing counterparts. Liberal readers will be delighted to learn that they are typically relaxed.

We know this is cutting-edge research because he interviewed as many as 46 people.

Image Source: Wessex Archaeology

All Shoes Considered [Nike Considered]

Nike has launched a new initiative called Considered Design. When trying to develop a more sustainable product, Nike realized that instead of creating a new shoe, they came up with the idea of using old shoes to make new ones. Vanessa Farquharson writes:

It's a perfect example of "upcycling" -- a green trend in which an expired product is upgraded into a new, more superior product -- and it's just one aspect of Nike's new approach to sustainability, which the company calls Considered Design.

Some examples of Considered Design's objectives: - A closed-loop system, in which Nike designers and manufacturers use old material and scraps from the cutting room floor to make new shoes, in order to reduce excess waste at the outset and create less demand for virgin resources. - Mechanically locking soles, meaning no glue or solvents are required in the production process; plus, insertable booties, removable logos and other design features that make the shoes easy to dismantle for recycling. - Apparel made entirely from recycled polyester and organic cotton, with water-based adhesive techniques in place of toxic cement or VOCs. - Open-sourced technology, allowing other companies to share research and development and promote sustainability throughout the marketplace.

Read the article from National Post here.

This Ad is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

In an Colombian advertising campaign, Toyota is printing its ads on recycled banana leafs. The ties are pretty obvious. I feel that I should be excited about the idea, but for some reason, I'm still on the fence on whether I like the idea or not.

With the entire world buzzing about being green, I'm starting to become a bit skeptical of all the PR. I really don't want to be jaded, but there seems to be a discrepancy between lip service and action. Sometimes I feel I'm stuck in a middle of a green marketing cacophony as companies increasingly try to outdo and outscream their competitors.

However, in this case, the banana plant only produces fruit once in its life and the leaves are typically thrown away. I guess I can give them kudos for that.



Ok, Maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of my bed today...

The Fruits of June

Not too long ago, I read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. It's a great book that tracks back how four different meals are made. Michael discusses the benefits of eating with the seasons. Not only is the produce more fresh, but because they are in abundance, they're cheaper.

Tastes good and costs less!

For the month of June, check out: watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, cherries, blueberries, peaches, apricots, corn, lettuce.

Discover, month-by-month, the fruits and vegetables that you should buy here.

Clay Shirky on Web 2.0

Pretty interesting comments from Clay Shirky on the future of multimedia and the Internet-expanding beyond consumption to encompass production and interaction.

Top 10 Reasons to Watch New Season Battlestar Galactica (David Letterman)

I will come out and say it. I watch BSG. And no, bears don't beat it.

Nano Phone, by Nokia

Nokia and the University of Cambridge's Nanoscience Centre is showcasing a nano-technology-based concept phone at the upcoming "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Here are some initial features that aren't available on your current phone:

• Flex and stretch shape
• Self-cleaning surfaces
• Transparent electronics
• Solar charging
• Ability to wrap around your wrist

I was always a big fan of snap on bracelets. We could be seeing a resurgence. Too bad the phone is seven years out.

Thanks core77 for the lead.

Waxing the ear

Rcrdlbl.com (or record label... took me one or two seconds to get it) is where I hear of 80% of all the new music that enters my eardrums.

Rcrdlbl is a joint venture between Downtown Records (Gnarls Barkely and more) and Peter Rojas, an entrepreneur who founded the respected technology blogs (Gizmodo and Engadget). What is unique about it is that the music is free and DRM-free. What? How? The website is funded by advertisers--nikon, virgin, bmw, puma, and nokia so far.

In an era with shrinking CD sales, the rise of iTunes, and increasing music pipeline of mypace, its inevitable that the business model for music needs to change. The WSJ (yeah, WSJ) has a pretty interesting piece about rcrdlbl.

There. The cat is out of the bag.

Cinematical's magnificant 7

I just booked my ticket to SFIAAF! It's going to be awesome. No better place to see some emerging asian-american content than from my mothercity--San Francisco.

To kick off the countdown, I've added a link to Cinematical's top seven Asian-American actors ready to break out.

Read Cinematical's post here.

I can't help but fear that my inner demons of skepticism have conquered my angels of hope, but I would also like to add Aaron Yoo to that list.

If your brain could vote, who would it vote for?

I just put down Malcolm Gladwell's Blink late last week. In the book, Malcolm spends a significant amount of time talking about the Implicit Association Test.

For those of you new to IAT:

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is an experimental method within social psychology designed to measure the strength of automatic association between mental representations of objects (concepts) in memory. The IAT requires the rapid categorization of various stimulus objects, such that easier pairings (and faster responses) are interpreted as being more strongly associated in memory than more difficult pairings (slower responses).

It's amazing how the subconscious is trumped by our consciousness. The team recently designed an IAT to get at people’s hidden political biases. Test takers are asked to associate photographs of candidates with words like positive words like “Love” and “Happy” or negative words like “Hate” or “Angry.”

Find out what candidate your subconscious wants here.

Korean is for design

In a recent FT article, Tatiana Boncompagni, predicts that Korean or Korean-Americans may be the future of fashion. In the recent Gen Art Fresh Faces catwalk, four of the eight designers were of Korean heritage. In fact, 29 percent of the student population enrolled in The New School for Design at Parsons are Korean. The article goes into profiling prominent and up-and-coming Korean fashion designers.

Why Korean, not other emerging arts countries like China? Well, according to Grace Sun:

I was born in Korea but I conduct business in China a lot and I’ve realised that Chinese culture is very much focused on food and culinary experiences. Koreans focus more on appearances and therefore fashion is a bigger part of the culture.

Yes, I do love my food.

Permutations on the 4 Cs

Lauren Sherman identifies the top diamonds of the world. While we typically use the four Cs (carat, clarity, color, and cut) serve as a guidline, its the specific combination of those four that differentiates one diamond from another.

For example, Sotherby's and other auction houses have been heavily marketing pink diamonds to young women in Hong Kong and China.

World's Ultimate Jewels - Forbes.com