Vu Magazine: Photos, Robots and Cutting-Edge Design
“The Maison Européenne de Photographie here in Paris is just wrapping up an exhibition about Vu, the French photo magazine of the 1920s and ‘30s. I expected a nostalgic survey of period feature photography, but instead got a ton of insight into something more contemporary: how technology works to spark design inspiration…the thing that really struck me was the layout of the pages. The design is full of sharp angles and wild proportions—vigorous, effusive, dizzying, almost violent. It commands attention.”
Joel Spolsky's steps to remarkable customer service
“I was sputtering, trying to figure out how best to express my rage at being forced to spend the morning going back and forth. ‘Ah. It’s my fault,’ he said. And suddenly, I wasn’t mad at all. Mysteriously, the words ‘it’s my fault’ completely defused me. That was all it took.”
Entrepreneurs reveal best decisions and worst mistakes at Startupping
“I asked many successful Internet entrepreneurs about lessons they learned starting and running Internet companies. I asked for their best decision and their worst mistake, and I received many insightful replies. Here is the first set of responses.”
The slow mojo-death of Microsoft over the last five years
“Mojo isn’t about what’s right or wrong inside an organization — it has much more to do with what’s going on externally — and how your actions and behaviors make people feel. A wise woman once said that it’s not what you say, but how you make your audience feel that matters.”
The Onion: "Apple Hard At Work Making iPhone Obsolete"
“When the second-generation iPhone comes out this fall, we want iPhone users to feel not just jealous, but downright foolish for owning such laughably primitive technology.”
Using Campfire for blog comments
“If you’ve visited the site in the last week or so, you may have noticed that I’m experimenting with Campfire as a replacement for comments. This is a quick retrospective about how it’s gone.”
Personalized calendar of upcoming concerts
“iConcertCal is a free iTunes plug-in that monitors your music library and generates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts in your city.”
Walking tours as MP3s
Buy them online, visit the place, have your own tour guide on your iPod.
Seth Godin cheers companies that refuse to discuss policies?
“Three cheers for the organization that says, ‘In order to keep prices low and traffic moving, we’re unable to discuss our policies with you. We’re very sorry if this inconveniences you.’ It’s far better than the charade that so many large companies go through. It saves the expedient from having an argument and gives those that can’t stand this approach fair warning to look for an alternative.”
Mustache Hall of Fame
“A few brave men have gone against the stereotype by continuing to cultivate varying degrees of upper lip hair, but the mustache is a dying breed.”