A Mark Left

I live in an urban environment with a bus stop near the front of my house. One morning, my neighbors and I were dismayed to awake to graffiti. Our bus stop had symbols painted on it, store front windows were etched, a residential fence defaced, and the light post marked.

“The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.”

-Richard R. Grant

While I don’t think anyone in the neighborhood was surprised that it happened, we were grossly disappointed. We all work hard to maintain our beautiful space, but someone with a different connection to our space worked hard to mark it as their own. How hard they worked is debatable but they made their mark.

Leaving a Mark

Our identity is hugely important to our success, whether we’re a small business, an individual or a gang. We all create an identity, intentional or not. Some of us leave a mark and some of us don’t. I learned something from the “un-identified” (in my world) gang. They have an identity that means something to their audience, probably their enemies. It means something to me too – there is never an appropriate time to push an identity on someone, or a community, if they don’t want it.

Likewise, how your identity is imposed upon and received in today’s social media communities is a critical component of any brand design and marketing strategy.

Consider yours carefully, seek good counsel and identify yourself properly.

Image: Robyn Gallagher

“…a showcase of the best in sustainability,
technology and design.”

Living Wright

WIRED and LivingHomes magazine produced the WIRED Home, what they call “…a showcase of the best in sustainability, technology and design.”

Constructed in-factory and erected in an upscale area of Los Angeles in just two and a half days, the home represents a convergence of aesthetic and eco-awareness.

WIRED’s Smart Home harkens back to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian concepts and organic design principles - with added technological advancements. One hundred years later, as oil prices and conservation become a global focus, we’re sure Wright would approve.

For details on the home here’s a link to the original WIRED article entitled WIRED Home by LivingHomes.

[image: klaxon]

Three month comparison of Facebook vs. MySpace daily reach

23 Nov 07: According to Alexa statistics, Facebook now reigns supreme among social networks

Eclipsing MySpace

As the Alexa chart (above) shows, Facebook has overtaken MySpace in global daily reach. They also jumped a significant five places in daily traffic rank, confirming that thus far, Microsoft partnered with a winner and it didn’t tarnish Facebook’s popularity.

We’ll have to wait and see what Google and the OpenSocialites have to say about all that. Stay tuned.

[ via: Shel Holtz ]

Ah, to Be Aggregated

Being assimilated into someone else’s Collective is not generally desirable. But many happily relinquish control when Google decides to acquire their enterprise.

If you logged into media distribution and RSS feed provider FeedBurner earlier this summer, you saw legal copy indicating you had 14 days to opt out before the rights to your data were transfered to Google.

Two striking thoughts:

1) Google has assimilated yet another service.
2) The rights to your data now belong to Google.

Mapping It All Out

For a quick overview of their reach, check out our Mindjet map of Google’s growing empire. Since the map is meant to show only the extent of their services, items on the map are unweighted and appear in random order.

While probably far from complete, it shows Google’s ever-widening breadth of assets representing easily accessible public information points. They have our email—both corporate and private, our search data, our website data through analytics, and much, much more.

May We Have Some Privacy?

Privacy concerns continue to be raised about the search giant. Privacy International put Google at the bottom of its first-ever privacy rankings and tussled with the search giant over allegations that Google conducted a preemptive smear campaign against them to discredit the about-to-be-released results.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, if information is king, Google most certainly represents the new information-laden Rome. Important to keep in mind as you seek to connect and protect your brand in their growing online landscape.

Downloads

Privacy International’s Rankings Report | 96 KB .pdf

Google Empire Mindjet Map | 37 KB .mmap

Google Empire PDF | 104 KB .pdf

Image: Checco

(Click on the image above for another view)

A Light Wind from Across the Pond

We bring you wind-powered street lamps from (where else?) the Netherlands. Light Wind, designed by Dutch design house, Demakersvan, borrows heavily from its cousin, the windmill. Made from high-end sail fabric, stainless steel, and wood—what a whirring, witty and windy idea. Renewable, sustainable, ingenious.

From the Demakersvan site:

Dutch windmills were actually perfect generators of their own. With that in mind, we made this lamp. With every breeze it stores energy, enough to enjoy every summer evening until forever. Contemporary vs traditional, art vs functionality. Shaped by its function, the big prop spans over one meter on each side. It is a self-supporting light source that marks the landscape.

produced by: ID PRODUCTIONS
photo: Ingmar Cramers