The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference has begun placing talks and performances online, with around 100 available now. If you’re unfamiliar with the conference, the organizers describe it as bringing “together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).” While I

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PSFK writes about an apparently lame attempt by Levis to jump on the ethical bandwagon:

The photo shows the mannequins in the NYC Broadway window telling us all to volunteer our time for social good – but why? This all might sound quite worthy but it comes across as patronizing and cheap. Enough said. Too little,

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MOO, that darling of the Digerati (is that still a word?), has launched MOO notecards.  MOO is best known for its mini-cards, which are small versions of business cards with a picture of your choosing on the back and text and an icon of your choosing on the front (or is it the other way around?). 

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Just as I published yesterday’s post which partly talked about the need for media companies to understand what they are, comes this article in the Wall Street Journal saying that Time Warner is considering reducing its investment in cable systems.  As I was writing “For traditional media companies that believe their mission is to deliver news,

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Last month, Bob Garfield published an article (4th in a series) in Ad Age that created some buzz among media bloggers.  Written more as a warning to ad agencies, it has obvious relevance to media companies as well.  Although in many ways typical of the doomsday genre, it also has some twists.

A lot of time

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Marketing Daily has an article about General Mills’ launch of a “Worldwide Innovation Network.”  At first blush, this seems to be the sort of open innovation embraced by, among others, P&G, Peugot, and Nokia.  Really, though it looks like GM has simply opened itself up to acquiring new products through licensing and maybe acquisitions.  Not

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In its most recent newsletter, PODi reports on RocketDog Racing’s use of personalized follow-up after the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon and the Door County Triathlon.  It featured a personalized postcard mailer and a customized Web site:

The postcard for the marathon featured an over-sized image of the runner’s bib number on the front. The back of

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Springwise reports on Neighborhood Fix-It, a UK Web site that allows residents throughout the country to report local problems that need action. 

 After entering a postcode or location, users are presented with a map of the area. They can view issues that have already been reported, or add something they’ve just spotted, simply by clicking on

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Reuters has interesting news about Second Life – the FBI is investigating gambling.  With hundreds of casinos and the Linden dollar freely transferable into US dollars, it seems pretty clear that there is gambling in the traditional sense of the word. 

‘We have invited the FBI several times to take a look around in Second Life

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Brandchannel.com has an interesting article on the proliferation of hotel brands.  Noting how difficult it is for a consumer to differentiate among all of these brands, the article states:

This is just one aspect of the branding problem. The larger hotel companies seem to spawn brands whenever the mood strikes. And the problem is getting worse.

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The Independent (via Influx) has a story about Rough Trade’s intention to open a 5,000 square foot music shop in London. This move by Rough Trade, the label that launched the Smiths, is a bet on a counter trend if ever there was one. With stories of declining CD sales in the press

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PSFK posted an extract from a Bob Lefsetz article arguing that not only is the old music industry model dead, but the price of music will soon be zero.  From Lefsetz:

YOU need to pay the mortgage. YOU need to go on vacation to the Caribbean. But the new musicians? They’re willing to sleep on the

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Business 2.0 has a story about Powercast, a company that has developed the technology to broadcast electricity from a power source to a small receiver.

A transmitter plugs into the wall, and a dime-size receiver (the real innovation, costing about $5 to make) can be embedded into any low-voltage device. The receiver turns radio waves into

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