kanner.com

Obama cares about your data structure

Yet another reason to tilt towards Obama… he’s promising to wrest all governmental data into universally accepted formats. That’s your data people. If all goes well, this could usher in a new era of accountability and clarity.

Jeffrey Veen has a great post about Barak’s talk about it with the kids at Google . The visit was also covered by Wired Magazine.

Trendwatching - Still Made Here

The Dutch marketing research company Trend Watching, has published their latest briefing titled (STILL) MADE HERE.

“(STILL) MADE HERE encompasses new and enduring manufacturers and purveyors of the local. In a world that is seemingly ruled by globalization, mass production and ‘cheapest of the cheapest’, a growing number of consumers are seeking out the local, and thereby the authentic, the storied, the eco-friendly and the obscure.”

Read it here.

Subscribe to their report here.

Evan O’Dorney

Yesterday’s spelling bee champ is a very special person - and spelling appears to be the least of the reasons why.

I just saw him on The Today Show. He said he had to juggle three or four balls while memorizing the spelling of words. When asked why he responded “Because it gives my hands something to do - otherwise they start picking up things, and I get distracted by the math of every day objects”. Apparently his real gift is towards mathematics and music. Spelling is hack work for him.

“With the math, I really like the way that the numbers fit together. With the music, I get a lot of ideas by composing notes. And with the spelling, it’s just a lot of memorization.”

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5357793

Say Anything

Did you happen to catch the piece in New York magazine ?

Say Anything: Kids, the Internet, and the End of Privacy: The Greatest Generation Gap Since Rock and Roll.The premise here is that kids who are coming of age in the post-Netscape era are somehow compelled towards sharing every aspect of their lives online. There’s a lot to this observation - it does feel generational.

But is it of the same scope as Rock n’ Roll? Hard to say. Rock has endured for fifty years now - online social sharing feels more short term and reactive. Privacy is out of fashion to be sure. I think it’s the natural outcome of decades of celebrity worship - and perhaps the real reason the web continues its growth. See, I got into online media to help fashion a platform for unconstrained creative and political expression. But for others, it simply may be a means to be better and more widely known.