Archive for September, 2009

Great Moments in Nerdery: The name’s Jankov. Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacka Highlander Elessar-Jankov

Said Norwegian bus driver Andreas Jankov, who legally lengthened his name to Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacka Highlander Elessar-Jankov (seen here displaying new drivers license): ”I wanted to show that it is possible to be serious and at the same time take the name you like. I wanted to see how far I could take it with respect to the number of names.”

Mr. Jankov, we salute you. See you at a Vikings game?

Your princess is in another lunchroom

Our Nerdery lunchroom was redecorated over the weekend. Super awesome, eh? The only thing that could make this place more nerderiffic is if the microwaves were actually roaming robots with microwaves as their chests. I’m pretty sure someone is already working on making that happen.

Mobile TC user group welcomes non-nerds

Looking around but not finding a user group fit for developers and non-developers alike who are interested in mobile apps, Justin Grammens founded the Mobile Twin Cities user group in March. Programming experience is far from prerequisite for Mobil TC members and visitors – the door is open to anyone wanting to talk/learn about what’s possible on mobile platforms, including Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Palm, Symbian and Windows Mobile.

“Being more on the technical side myself, I somewhat jokingly said, ‘I want to have people at these meetings that are NOT like me,’” said Grammens. “I decided that if I were to form a group, I wanted it not to segment anyone. I wanted presentations on both technical and non-technical subjects, by people who were interested in mobile technology and allow for networking, companies and new products to grow. I wanted it platform agnostic and skill level/knowledge/interest agnostic as well.”

Having outgrown its table at a coffee shop, Mobile TC makes its Nerdery debut tomorrow evening (Sept. 15, 7-9 p.m.).

On tap: Alex Brekken will demonstrate on a high level the Palm WebOS and the technologies involved on getting going with development on the platform. Justin Grammens and Sam Schroeder of Recursive Awesome will show some differences in a trivial iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Palp Pre applications they wrote. And representing non-developers, self-proclaimed Nerdery senior account nerd Matt Albiniak will talk about how to make a paycheck as a mobile developer – come see if he also regurgitates some of what his ad agency contacts tell him about their ambitions for going mobile.

Want to make sure the Nerdery orders enough pizza for all? Then RSVP by replying to Justin here or by leaving us a comment. Same goes for those wanting to speak their mind – as mobile developers, users, interested parties, passersby – at an upcoming Mobile TC user group meeting.

Friday Links: 50 things killed by the Internet plus Star Trek cologne

• 50 things that are being killed by the Internet. Includes: polite discourse, photo albums, our memories, and solitaire among others.
• Probably the most amazing collection of Star Wars junk you’ll ever see.
• The Tracy Awards are the cream of the crap of advertising.
• Facebook’s Twitter-like tagging, useful or tiring?
• Hack2Work: Essential Tips for the design professional
• Star Trek Cologne, for the nerd who doesn’t shower nearly enough?
• Negative space illustrations
• Cheese or font? Go ahead, click it, it’s just a game.
• 5 grammar mistakes that make you look like a chimp.

Apple’s Keynote, kind of a snooze

Yesterday’s triumphant return of Steve Jobs to deliver Apple’s keynote was probably the most exciting thing (at least to me) about the event. The big news? Video Nano! Zzzzz. Of course, I’m probably alone in that assertion. It seems a lot of the pundits are excited about the new Nano now with FM radio and video capabilities. Me? I wanted something. . . else. I hold Apple up to a high, game-changing standard. With every announcement I expect them to unveil something new, something I didn’t even know I wanted until they invented it (see iPod, iPhone). Of course, the new iTunes is pretty slick. I cannot deny that.

Here’s what others have to say about yesterday’s event:

• AdAge: Radio rejoices as iPod Nano gets FM tuner
• Mashable: New iPod Nano: Why pocket video is a game changer
• Gizmodo: Hands on with the new iPod Nano
• ArsTechnica: Apple disses touch, add video to Nano, color to Shuffle
• David Pogue in the New York Times: Apple’s New Nano: Now The World’s Smallest Camcorder

So what’d you think? I think, ultimately, people were more excited about Apple records (The Beatles) than Apple products.

Free, free, set cat free

Last night, Theresa found a stray cat (kitten, if that helps) at her home in Apple Valley. Today, she did what any responsible person who works at the Nerdery would do: bring it in – maybe see if there are any takers. The following is a public service announcement on behalf of Lucky (working title) and Lucky’s rightful owner. 

Nerdery cat shelter from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Closed circuit to rightful owner: As you can see, we’ve bonded with Lucky (if that’s really his name). Your cat may be a natural born nerd. Who knew?

For the rest of you ooh-ing and awe-ing at Lucky’s undeniable cuteness, please help this cat find his way – whether that means going back to his rightful home or (maybe?) coming to live with you. Or, perhaps one of us poor saps will adopt a cat.

So, how ‘bout it? Want to come to the Nerdery, maybe get Lucky? The Nerdery Shelter for Wayward Kitties (we’re new at this) will entertain all serious queries/correspondence – please leave a comment. Have you seen Lucky?

Taking control of SQL Server with .NET

Sorry for the late notice on this one, but if you don’t have any plans tonight and want to know how to take control of your SQL Server using .NET, then you should attend the Twin Cities Developer’s Guild talk tonight. Our own Jeff Klawiter will be giving you the low down on at 6 p.m. tonight at New Horizons of Minnesota, 4510 West 77th Street – Edina, MN 55435.

You can learn more and RSVP for the event at Twin Cities Developers Guild.

Friday Links: A plethora of Internet goodness for you to peruse

• Bringing Where the Wild Things Are to the screen
• The United States of Sin. Minnesota is full of lust and wrath. Go us!
• AT&T asks renowned hacker Kevin Mitnick to leave rather than fix security issues.
• Nerdy parents everywhere rejoice! You can rock your baby to sleep with a CD drive.
• The Oregon Trail Song (did you know our own John K worked on it? Well, he did!)
• From the are you kidding me file: Music downloading penalties are harsher than arson, theft, or starting a dogfighting ring
• What Facebook quizzes really know about you, aside from the fact that you’re an INFJ, if you were a Scooby Doo Character you’d be Shaggy, and when you are a demented old lady you will be mean & sassy.
• Rightsizing, a funny comic strip about the Disney purchase of Marvel.
• Gizmodo’s essential iPhone Apps: Fall 2009
• Medical afflictions of the cartoon world

Feel “free” – try before you buy

Quick, scroll through your iTunes – how many of those songs did you pay for? I’ve burned every Hold Steady CD from friends who beat me to the record store, but I’d like to think I make up for my thrift by buying tickets for their homecoming gigs – and even bought my favorite t-shirt at one of the band’s First Ave shows. Eventually, we vote with our dollars for stuff we like.

Chris Anderson, author of “The Long Tail,” has again landed on the New York Times Bestseller list – this time by putting the premise of his latest book, “Free,” to practice by inviting thousands of freeloaders to download it. “The point was to let people sample the book in full,” said Anderson. “If they liked it, we hoped that some would buy the hardcover to keep or at least spread the word.” 

And yeah, “Free” found its way into my summer reading via the ol’ five-finger discount, but here I am spreading the word.

Reading the New York Times online is free, but to me the better bargain is having the (now six-dollar) dead-tree Sunday edition strewn about my couch for the rest of the week. Well-worth reading is the Ping column of last Sunday’s Times (Business section, page 4) about Evernote, a free web application that lets users make and keep notes from web clips, voice memos, business cards, pictures, videos and more – with the ability to retrieve data from multiple devices.

(Disclosure: The Nerdery helped develop parts of Evernote’s forthcoming revamped website, along with design agency partners Factor Design.)

Even though three-fourths of Evernote users quit it cold turkey, the company is betting that as more people use it to organize their constantly accumulating data, the more members will pay for account enhancements like more storage and being able to scan PDF notes to find a certain word. It stands to reason that the more notes a user puts in for free, the likelier they’ll be to pay to more easily extract the data that drives their personal and professional life.

“Free is not a loss leader,” said Evernote chief executive Phil Libin to NY Times columnist Damon Darlin. “If we can get a small percentage of users to pay we start to make money…We are committed to being free.”

Me too – if it’s free, I’m free to do it. 

Ad:tech Chicago – holy #&%^$@! amazing conference

It’s Christmas in September for this nerd. The powers that be gave me the head nod to make the pilgrimage down to ad:tech Chicago. I wasn’t sure what I was really getting into, but seeing as most of the agencies we work with were either attending or sponsoring, it was pretty clear there was a compelling reason to go.

After day 1, I’ve seen the light. With four sessions to choose from every hour, amazing keynotes in the morning, and great conversations between sessions, well, there’s no way it’s all ever going to fit within a single blog post.

There are a couple sessions that nearly knocked me over, though.

1. The Transformation of News Media: How to Thrive in the Age of Chaos
   Who woulda thunk anyone could learn so much from the financially-challenged news media industry? It’s amazing how much harder you’re forced to think when you’re under the guillotine. No doubt, news media revenue is largely stagnant, and those failing to innovate have died. This humble nerd’s opinion? The places they’re looking at going are the same places our agency partners are going to start heading. Highly targeted, hyper local, deeply relevant content and user experiences…and not just via mobile.
2. Master Class Workshop: The Modern Agency
   With a panel comprised of Draftfcb, TribalDDB, and Razorfish, this was bound to be interesting. And it was. Key take aways:
   • Clients don’t see agencies as strategic partners. The panel seemed to agree – this is where the opportunity is, and this is where agencies should consider going.
   • Agencies that become strategic partners should expect to see a shift back to bundled services.
   • Agencies need to move faster to include strategy that embodies emerging technologies. They didn’t with social, and that’s why internal marketing teams are handling the social channel.
   • The new agency model involves triangulation between marketing, agency activity, and digital. I think. Anyone able to clarify this?

   I think it was the comment that “agencies are comfortable” that made me see the dangerous parallels between the agency world and the news media world. I hope I’m wrong, or that agencies can make the quick move and innovate for their clients.

Every single session I attended put the gray matter into speeds beyond the legal limit. Instead of brain vomiting all over the place, final thoughts: Think hyper local, highly relevant, contextual experiences and content delivery. Not everyone is on Twitter, but the ones that are are the influentials (not my words, but hey).

Turns out ad:tech really is “The Event for Digital Marketing.” Nerdery Interactive Labs isn’t a digital marketing shop, but that’s exactly who our partners are. Throughout the day, this nerd got bathed in the challenges our partners face. Understanding the challenges of agencies  puts the Nerdery in a position to become better and more strategic partners, something we all hope carries significant value back into the work we do.

If you’d like to catch the tweets from ad:tech Chicago, you can read them from me or everyone there.