The b&a; blog is moving back to its original place in cyber space. Be part of the conversation there, at babrain.com/blog. See you there! Read Full Story
How is Marcie faring you ask? As of yesterday she still had $13... She has been eating things she bought grocery shopping and planning her meals, I am so proud and a tiny bit envious of her homemade food (which has been suplemented with office food laying around). The keeping busy strategy seems to be working. If you don't have time to buy things, you won't! Her plan was slightly foiled by an automatic payment she had previously set up to deduct directly from her checking account. We won't... Read Full Story
I just read an article on CNN.com about fake speed bumps. The basic idea is that rather than building real speed bumps on roads, optical illusion speed bumps are being tested that are intended to trick drivers into slowing down, only to find that there was no bump after all. I'm all for great new ideas, but this one seems very flawed. So maybe an optical illusion bump would trick me once, but wouldn't I learn pretty quickly where these fake bumps are located? If anything, I can see people... Read Full Story
Fellow co-worker Marcie Mutters has declared a personal challenge this week. Live on the $13 cash she has in her little red coach purse until Friday. No atm's. No credit cards. Frivalous purchases we make add up to an embarrasing about of money spent every month. A self-monitoring task could be good for all of us, whether the object is to save money, an effort to consume less (which I'm sure many American's would agree we seriously need to do anyways - it's so hard when you're in the habit... Read Full Story
My best friend is spending the next year or so working as the 'Chief Stew' on a private, commercial yacht bound for various, exotic European destinations. Upon reaching their first destination in the south of France, they will charter parties for the uber-wealthy, catering dinners with full silver service and spending their twenty-hour days at the beck and call of their privileged guests. Fun right? But before you pity them, know that on their days off they have the whole of these postcard... Read Full Story
I came across an interesting series of quotes via Digg that I found extremely inspiring. It was from a site Null Hypothesis in the UK. Some of my favorites:
Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.
- Darryl F. Zanuck, Head of 20th Century-Fox, 1946.
This `telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a practical form of communication. The device is... Read Full Story
I'm curious about what software or sites everyone is using to track web site activity, visits, etc. Google Analytics has always been a popular choice because it offers the basics and it's free. Lately, I've been having some fun with Woopra, which I believe is still in a beta stage. It has a fun graphic layout and it's fun to have the ability to see who's on a site in real time. But there are also plenty of softwares out there, some free and some pay, that track the mouse's movement through... Read Full Story
Ideas for Your Next Brainstorm Okay, so you're ready to brainstorm. You gather everyone in a room. You've read the Rules in the second blog post in our series. Now what? Getting a brainstorm off the ground can be the hardest part of the meeting. It sounds silly, but you need some parlor tricks to break the ice of your brainstorm and get people playing. Here are some to consider: 1. The mini assignment. Give each participant a special assignment prior to the meeting. They need to bring ideas... Read Full Story
Part 2: The Rules of Brainstorming It sounds contradictory that a freewheeling exercise like brainstorming should have rules, but trust me, establishing a few simple ground rules are essential to a successful brainstorm. Brainstorm Rule 1: Have a Leader The leader’s role is to moderate the brainstorm, focus the group on a specific problem at hand only, and prevent the two terrible E’s (Ego and Evaluation) from rearing their heads. The leader should set the rules at the beginning of the... Read Full Story
