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Caine’s Arcade

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A 9 year old boy who built an elaborate cardboard arcade in his dad’s used auto parts store is about to have the best day of his life. You have got to take 10 minutes and watch this sweet video about imagination, loving what you do, being an entrepreneur and the power of social media. This is a video that teachers should share with their students, no matter their age.  I love how proud Caine is when he is showing us his work.  After you watch the video, head over to Caine’s website. I know you’ll get chills, goosebumps and might even cry….but it’ll make your day.

Revamping Pilates Equipment

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For years I’ve been interested in Pilates and this year I finally got started doing floor pilates [and BTW it really works].  The pilates machines have always looked so antiquated…until now!  Balanced Body has re-designed the pilates machines and they are awesome.  Here’s an example of taking an old machine and enhancing the user experience….beautiful!  I’d love one in my house.

Danielle LaPorte: A Credo for Making it Happen

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In 2010 Danielle LaPorte created the original FireStarter Sessions as a downloadable eBook chocker-block-full of fabulously excellent content and yummy videos which have inspired entrepreneurs to ‘spark your genus, ignite your business, make it matter.’  Well, Danielle now has her book out in print.

Here is Danielle’s current video….which I want to have to watch [again and again] and to share:

Based upon Danielle’s first eBook version of this now-hard-cover rendition. I HIGHLY recommend. I can’t wait to get my own copy.  My big question is should I get the hard copy or a digital copy?

IF you still need convincing check out this first chapter for free.

36 UIs In 30 Locations

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When to know enough is just enough. Ericsson had too much information and needed a message to communicate how a multi-purpose, multi-technology network node enables operators to meet their three priorities in relation to data traffic explosion: differentiation, control and monetization.

The above video is work that makes you jealous, inspires and does both simultaneously.  The beauty of this video is that it is a great example of the changing nature of how instruction can communicate an idea [not just a product].  It shows how Ericsson moves data around, and why it matters.

The House of Radon did the creative work and really hit the nail on making sense out of a concept. The video’s message “appeals to the senses.” Data, nodes, operators, differentiation–all of these ideas in Ericsson’s brief are just so much insubstantial vapor. House of Radon’s video translates them into snappy factoids, which helps. But the idea of embedding them into physically appealing touchscreen interfaces–and then embedding those into a series of viscerally evocative first-person live-action scenelets, where just a hint of sound effects and out-of-focus background action instantly tells your five senses everything they need to know about what’s happening outside the edges of the frame–that’s what makes Ericsson’s brief make sense.

House of Radon’s relentless cutting from new interface/location to new interface/location, three dozen times, is an essential part of getting the message across. As more and more innovative companies find themselves “selling” invisible-but-essential ideas, this kind of advertising-as-sensemaking becomes more valuable than any glib “Got Milk?”-style product campaign ever could be. Does every spot need to cram in 30-odd interfaces and locations to make its point? Of course not. But the designers behind this House of Radon spot know that, sometimes, “too much” is just enough.