Our favorite crew at Improv Everywhere does it again with a very enlightening High Five Mission smartly placed up the stairs in the subway. 2,000 high fives in 45 minutes, thousands more smiles… pretty awesome!

Great talk again by Dan Ariely during TED2009… Buy his book Predictably Irrational.

I love it when an everyday object is turned into an entirely different emotional object. A bar of soap, foaming gel, or perhaps some soap leaves!
via BookofJoe
Buy at Wrapables, 20 soap leaves, $13

I wish I had this tape when I was younger….and to mix in with it nicely would be the suction cup wall climbing R/C cars. I guess ‘ll just have to stick to making TapeArt.

Buy it here ($19, click on the Play Tab and you’ll see it)

If your in the Boston/Cambridge area today, there’s a pretty interesting panel discussion going on over at the Harvard GSD 5-7pm. I’ll try to be there.

“How do the new forms of connectivity enabled by the internet affect flows of power in society? Does electronic communication create new forms of self-identification, new political sensibilities, or new avenues of empowerment? Or do old hierarchies get reinforced and familiar divisions, such as those between male and female or right and left, get more firmly entrenched through new routines? How do design choices affect relationships of power, for example, by selecting who should be connected to whom and across what sorts of spaces? Drawing on studies of teenagers and professional designers, cities and the blogosphere, this distinguished panel will lead us on a fascinating journey across today’s changing public spheres. They will offer tantalizing glimpses into the democratic imaginations taking shape in cyberspace.”

Full description here.

I’ve mentioned the irresistibly cool Felt Rocks before, but if your craving something smaller, go grab some felt rocks on etsy or go a big box of my always favorite carpet poofs!

Give this 4 minute video a watch as it’s so very true. “Everything’s Amazing, yet nobody’s happy!”, Louis CK.
I agree, too many people complain too much when life is pretty damn amazing.

Really interesting discussion if your into the future in digital mobile social networking.

“http://www.weforum.org
01.30.2009

The Next Digital Experience
Social networking applications and sophisticated mobile devices are combining elements of the real and virtual worlds, and delivering an augmented experience of reality.

How is this digital experience changing consumers and communities?

Hamid Akhavan: Chief Executive Officer, T-Mobile International, Germany
Eric K. Clemons: Professor of Operations and Information Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Chad Hurley: Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, YouTube, USA
Craig Mundie: Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation, USA
Shantanu Narayen: President and Chief Executive Officer, Adobe Systems, USA
Mark Zuckerberg: Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Facebook, USA

Moderated by
Michael Arrington, Founder and Editor, TechCrunch, USA”

I stopped by Brown Univesities EP (Entrepreneurship Program) this weekend in providence and was plesantly inspired by the 4 speakers who spoke. A few mental notes:

- Kiva.org: I learned from co-founder Matt Flannery that he worked at Tivo before, wrote down an idea a day for about a   month, then quit his job to work at a donut shop, while starting up Kiva, with several people saying you can’t just loan money to outside countries legally. Anyone can be your business partner! Kiva now get over 1Million dollars in loans every 10 days! via BrownEP

- Starbucks: Ted Garcia (Ex VP). Starbucks went from having 17 stores total to 5 stores opening each day up to an astounding 16,000 stores total in about 10 years! Starbucks success comes from 3 things. Performance, People, and Luck. Starbucks success was in having a constant open dialogue with all employees, and bringing up issues when employees did not perform as needed. via BrownEP

- Mark Victor Hansen: Spend, create ideas, do ideas, only you can make something happen. Don’t wait for it to come to you. Don’t do something to make money, or save the world. Do it to make the world better.  via BrownEP

- David Shrier: old school marketing techniques still work and can easily be measured in all channels. Some of the best examples are Ronco and Proactiv. Advertising money is not just to get to consumers, but also to reach largers distributions. I’m not a huge believer in older techniques, but David gave some very convincing examples.  via BrownEP

” I wish you would use all means at your disposal — films! expeditions! the web! more! — to ignite public support for a global network of marine protected areas, hope spots large enough to save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet.”
- Sylvia Earle

This is the TEDwish that made me promise to cut back on seafood (and sushi consumption) this year, though I’ve learned it’s better to eat smaller fish that reproduce faster from a previous lecture on ocean life as well. Also helping out will be the free release in the astonishing documentary OCEANS (youtube) by Jacques Perrin (Winged Migration) to help educate people about the ocean sometime this year.
via TEDprize

Unbelievable story! Multiple standing ovations occurred during Jose’s story and performance at TED. I’ll be helping out with this TED wish with my time this year and I just might be picking back up my violin of 15+ years experience for a bit. Come join the wish! Watch the above performance with your sound blasting!

“Jose Antonio Abreu is the charismatic founder of a youth orchestra system that has transformed thousands of kids’ lives in Venezuela. Here he shares his amazing story and unveils a TED Prize wish that could have a big impact in the US and beyond.” via TED

“Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for “practical wisdom” as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world.” via TED

Also watch his other talks here or buy his awesome book “Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less“