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Yahoo! News – Mutation Found in ‘Muscle Man’ Toddler

On the one hand, it feels like the first wave of the “X-Men” is finally here. On the other, the horror of the Ubermensch has arrived.

In either case, this child needs an agent now to help him reap the windfall marketing endorsements he should be able to line up. Of course, this will be until our society determines he is really a “freak” and then turns on him (much like we did to Michael Jackson).

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Vinography: a wine blog: Food Porn: Jamie Oliver’s Blog

Blogs within blogs within blogs withing blogs…

I love Vinography, though may not always agree with wine and food reviews.

I love Jamie, as much for his good basic cooking as for his absolutely cheeky attitude and real desire to do “good” in the world.

So, love this all and now do my own part to connect.

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Yahoo! News – Judaism’s Thriving Concern

Not sure why, but this article fills me with hope and dread. Perhaps that is the intent of the writer, perhaps it is the intent of Chabad.

I identify myself as a “Jew” and am proud to do so. My religious affiliation is iffy, at best. Yet, I feel a sense of connection to Judaism. But, the entire concept of the Chabad movement scares me. I don’t want a Messiah, but I do want hope and salvation and a better world for everyone. Nope, I don’t want a Messiah at all.

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Google’s making us all marketers and targets

Look, look! Money to be made. Stay tuned and I will make some money too. Really. Hopefully.

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BW Online | June 28, 2004 | Blogging With The Boss’s Blessing

I love this story, for all the ways in which it shows how powerful the blog revolution has become and for how major companies such as Microsoft (who is my employer) are coming to realize that since you can’t control information flow, you had better aid it.

Of course, staring at my walls inside the building here in Redmond often leads me to the strangest of beliefs.

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Yahoo! News – Some Dogs May Sense Kids’ Impending Seizures

I love science. I love dogs. I love the fact that even the best and brightest of us actually have no idea what is actually occuring in the Universe.

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So, there comes a point in every parents life where magic happens. Actually, if you are fortunate you have that magic happen again and again.

On Sunday — Father’s Day — I got up after the wife and daughter had already started making breakfast. I usually cook on Sunday morning, so this was already a special treat. My daughter, all of 13 months old, was toddling around the kitchen while Mommy was making pancakes.

I sat down at my desk to read the news and saw my wife hand an envelope to the little one. Now, normally she would either (a) chew on it or (b) toss it down if it didn’t interest her. Instead, she — with some verbal encouragement from my wife — held it out in front of her and walked over to me. Then she gave it to me. My little girl hand delivered my Father’s Day card. I was nearly in tears. It was magic.

That, my friends, makes up for all the technocrap, fast food poison, big company hijinks that we put up with everyday.

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Yahoo! News – Sun weans workers from healthy perk

Now that Sun has had a long, $2B drink at Microsoft’s teat, the workers down in the Valley are the ones who suffer.

It is not so much that Sun shoots itself in the foot with a decision like this (will they really be net positive after all the negative press and bad feelings?), but that they can’t even come up with a good explanation for why it makes sense. Happy employees are productive employees, and when you are a company just one more workstation away from complete irrelevance, you need all the help you can get.

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Forbes.com: EBay Makes A Savvy Marketing Platform For HP

Thinking about this made me realize how deeply eBay as lodged itself into the collective unconscious. Long time ago eBay was a simple place for simple folks to sell their Pez collections. Now it is a vast “shadow” economy that runs in parallel to the real economy. Unlike Google, which is a powerful tool, eBay is now a powerful “place”. A virtual place, but a place nonetheless.

Whenever I interview job candidates there are always a few standard questions I use. One of them is to tell me about the “best” and the “worst” marketing they have every personally experienced. I allow them to define marketing as they see fit. Most people equate marketing with branding or advertising, though some are able to see through to the deeper levels of marketing available. Interviewing a person recently she responded “Vespa” to the best marketing question.

Well, Vespa is not at the top of my cultural hot list, but she was a different demographic than me. Having just bought a Vespa she was eager to go on about the experience, how the company differentiated itself in the market, and what the brand meant. It was a pretty good answer to the question. But, have I gotten so out of touch with the market that Vespa scooters are hot and I don’t know it?

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Castles Made of Ampersands – AT&T’s misguided new campaign. By Seth�Stevenson

This is one of those great little commentaries that makes me laugh and cry. Well, more laugh than cry.

Having lived through both the @ craze and the e- excitement, I know how mind numbingly idiotic reliance on a symbol or “hot” letter can be. These things, of course, come in waves, as Mr. Stevenson points out. Much like the infamous “swirl” logos of the late 90s, we may be entering the age of reductio ad absurdum in naming and everyday conversation.

Meet me @ KFC
McD 4 lunch?
C2 and a 🙂
Did u c AI last nite?

Thx