User submitted news is nothing new. Neither is allowing users to vote on stories. You can digg it, reddit, and sphinn it, but the one that has caught my attention is Mixx.com. So why should you consider using Mixx.com?
1. Mixx Cuts Through the Noise. This is a blessing and a curse because part of how they cut through the noise is by not having as much noise to deal with. Mixx is smaller so that means less submissions, but also less content. The content that makes the cut seems to be of good quality for the most part, so its something I’m willing to live with.
2. Customizable “Your Mixx”. Mixx is great because you can plug in keywords you want to track and articles that are tagged with your keywords show up on your customized homepage (called Your Mixx). So if you don’t want to wade through articles about how legalizing (fill in the blank), OMGWTFKSRSLY [pic] and whatever else may flood the user submitted sites, you can strip it all away and get only what you want.
3. Mixx Makes for Great Keyword Targeting. The nature of the site is to show people what they are interested in, not just a laundry list. Hmm, sounds like what a search engine does. Where there is search, there is money to be made. Use your imagination on what this could do for you, but there is some real potential here.
In addition, Mixx offers a lot of other cool tools, an API so you can customize it even more and the Blender where they show off some of the cool things people have made with the API.
"As more and more content moves from the desktop to the Web, HP is working to make printing relevant and meaningful,"
I think what they meant to say was that, as other companies continue to improve and gain traction, HP is working to try and remain relevant and meaningful. Its been a long time since I have thought of HP's printers being top shelf, or even all that good, for that matter. Sticking 2.0 at the end of print makes you look like the 40 something guy that tries to dress like he's 21.
Apparently, this new technology will allow us to make books of photos and text. Haven't we been able to do that for a while now – even at home? Finishing is the name of the game. The trouble with home printing, for anything more than single sheet printing, is the finishing. Cutting, binding, sorting – it is a pain. They will also be offering stationery designs that you can go and grab from a website to use. So they are building Publisher?
All of this "cutting edge" stuff is only going to cost $300 million dollars to market. $300 million, and after that, you will still be my dad's printer. This doesn't sound revolutionary or even all that creative. If you want to solve the new uses for printers and the web, how about investing that $300 million in a technology that will make low resolution internet images print well? Then, you would be solving the REAL web and printing issue and people would run to you instead of being pulled. While they are at it, why not invest the $300 million in improving your inks and color reproduction. Maybe a color reproduction system that scans your monitor settings and adjusts the output to match the screen (since most people will never buy monitor calibration equipment).
Oh one more gift from HP, a[nother] toolbar that will give us access to printing tips. Another toolbar will definitely get me fired up.
I've been reviewing a lot of the campaigns and designs that I have worked on, and I stumbled across this pain relief campaign. When I began working on this project, the idea was to abandon the traditional thoughts about pain relief. When I started digging into that dark side of the brain, I realized that sometimes, we are in such pain, or at least annoyed by it, that we'll do anything to get rid of it. That is when the campaign hit me. I sketched out my thoughts and away we went.
The idea was to take this almost printed instructional look and add some humor to it. I burned through a number of scenarios until I finally settled on three: A lighter to the hair, a hammer to the fingers and a mousetrap to the tongue.
The idea was to leave you knowing that there are all kinds of alternatives when it comes to pain relief, but there is only one that is a good idea to use – Advil. Normally, I tend to use photography over illustration, but in this instance, illustration was able to convey so much more than the photos did. Well, I guess If I could have the picture of the actual hair burning off – hmm....
My point is, when directing, there are tons of little decisions that factor into the quality and ultimately the success of the final piece and the campaign. Color, size, style, copyrighting – all of it impacts the piece. Execution and the thought behind the campaign impact the effectiveness of the campaign. In this case, we know that pain isn't something to laugh about. Giving people a laugh about how they choose their pain relief is definitely more enjoyable than a photo of some generic guy in a generic scene talking about how his back feels better.
Recently I took the Strengthsfinder assessment test. I'm always a little skeptical about assessment tests. More often than not, they are either way off base or incredibly vague. After spending several weeks studying a Markus Buckingham curriculum, I decided to give it a shot.
After taking the test, and receiving the results, my first thought was, "wow". These top five characteristics really sum up what I love. I get really excited about strategy and developing concepts. I love working on ideas and fleshing them out. I'm a big fan of education, both traditional (school) and self-education such as the Personal MBA. I think for a long time, I've tried to suppress my competitive side. I guess I've always known that it frustrated me, but for some reason I did it. I pride myself on doing my best to be objective and look at situations and people individually so that the best decision can be made.
This information, along with great advice from some people that I trust, has helped me shape where I want to go in the future. It has cleared up some of the frustration that I found myself dealing with that I believe I can now avoid.
If you have never taken the Strengthsfinder test and you are curious about discovering your strengths, I say pick up a copy of the book (you will need the book for the pass code to take the test) and give it a try.
User submitted news is nothing new. Neither is allowing users to vote on stories. You can digg it, reddit, and sphinn it, but the one that has caught my attention is Mixx.com. So why should you consider using Mixx.com?
July 31, 2008
1:45 pm
Recently I took the 
