Do you Twitter?

I do. Do you?

Just recently has Twitter become the talk of the town. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about Twitter.Twitter-this, Twitter-that. I "tweet" quite frequently. Sometimes, they are deep and philosophical and other times, they are fun and sarcastic.

Mike Massimino, a mission specialist on the space shuttle Atlantis, announced this week that he will use Twitter from space during the shuttle's next mission in May. It is official, this trend has been taken to new heights. Pun intended--of course.

Massimino is a relatively new "tweet-er". Within two weeks of beginning to use Twitter, Massimino has accrued 119,893 followers. By the time you read this, he will most likely have more. He is proving himself to be a pretty popular guy. NASA's PR team is responsible the idea of Massimino twittering in preparation for the May mission as well as while actually in space.

If you don't Twitter, you should. Mike goes by Astro_Mike.
Go follow him and I'll see you on Twitter.

Here's an app, there's an app...

Everywhere an app-app...

I own an iPhone and iLove it. Oops, I mean I love it. I'm sure you're aware of one of its hottest features: the "App store". This aspect of the iPhone allows users access to more than 25,000 programs, with 5,000 new added every month. There is seriously an app for everything.

Apple is in a league of their own---a market solely dominated by their genius idea. Others have tried to grab an edge and catch up, but they can't really compete. Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, and Research in Motion (BlackBerry's maker) have already opened app stores this year or plan to do so.

Did you know there were about 80,000 "apps" for the BlackBerry before anyone had even heard of the "App store"? No. It is ALL about how you market and project your message, clearly.

Many apps are free, some cost--but remain inexpensive. Consumers view them as disposable and therefore won't invest too much of their wallet.

This feature connects the product directly to the consumer-- direct market-- a really great thing. Apple has got the idea. It's profitable and it shows.

So, I'm sorry for all you out there without an iPhone. They are amazing. You really should join the club and go get one :)

Constructive Criticism

Feedback is a great thing.

How will you ever know what isn't working if no one tells you?

Yelp is a user-submitted small business and restaurant review site. It has some controversial policies as well as pretty intense influences in local markets. Originally, business owners could not respond to or retaliate against harsh reviews their companies received. Recently, Yelp has softened on this protocol-- letting businesses respond to damaging comments.

It's a win-win situation. This recent change in policies will give Yelp positive publicity and also will mean that business owners will be spending more time on their website.

Complaints are "free customer research." View them that way and they will be 100% more helpful and 100% less frustrating.

My Kind of School

Mattias Hansson is 40 and the CEO of Hyper Island. He helps to train more than 1,000 students a year in digital media and digital business management. The "school" is located in Stockholm, on a former prison island off the coast of Sweden. Graduates are quickly recruited by well-known firms such as Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Ideo.

"Look into the eyes of the creatives you know and ask them: If they could choose, would they pick the traditional academic world or an opportunity to learn by doing real stuff such as building e-communication solutions for MTV, Ikea, and others. We don't have classrooms or auditoriums, and we don't focus on grades. We don't educate people to become something. They have to decide that themselves."

This sounds so incredible to me. I learn best with hands-on activity. A main reason I chose to attend the University of Memphis was the amazing basketball team. Well, Memphis no longer has that. I might as well transfer.

Hansson's "school" gives "students" opportunities to boost their skills and increase their demand after graduation the program. Every student has at least five job offers from top international agencies according to Hansson. One student alone received 56 offers this year.At least 80% go abroad to work.

"We're more of a household name in Manhattan, Paris, or San Francisco than in Sweden."

Seriously, where do I sign up?

Yoga..a cult?

I think the saying goes: "If the shoe fits, wear it." You can deny you are something as much as you want but actions always speak louder than words.

Lululemon seems shady to me. For those who don't know what it a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company that also offer free yoga classes within their stores. Seems pretty great, but the more I learned about their methods, the more I questioned their motives.

They bring people into their stores with the lure of a free, trendy yoga class. Then they take all your money you didn't spend on the yoga class by selling you $52 tank tops. But no worries, they will give you a 15% off coupon. Whoop-dee-doo.

"If you want to be successful in this industry, it's about being authentic," says Christine Day, Lululemon's CEO.

I am totally not getting the "authenticity" vibe. But maybe that is just me.

In just a little more than 10 years, this company has gone from a single storefront in Vancouver, British Columbia to more than 100 outlets and $340 million in annual revenue. That works out to $1,800 in sales per square foot.

"Our vision is 'to elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness,' and we are growing so we can train more people and spread the word of The Secret -- which to us at Lululemon is not so secret,' says Chip Wilson, the company's founder and chairman.

Lululemon plans to expand into swimming, triathlons, and running.

So, we shall see. Google them, but beware--they will suck you in.

A Name You Should Know

"It doesn't matter if it's a company or a campaign; you build around commonality. If it's real people and real communities, then it's valuable. Otherwise, it’s just playing around online.”

That’s what Chris Hughes has to say to sum up his philosophy. Remember the name ‘Chris Hughes’, I have a feeling this is not the last time you will hear it. At the mere age of just 25, Hughes has already helped create two of the most innovative and successful start-ups in modern history—Facebook and the online-based campaign that got Barak Obama elected.

What made these ventures so innovative and successful? They acknowledged the importance of communities and how people interact with each other.

Hughes became involved with Facebook on the ground level when he befriended Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard. Little did he know that would eventually lead him to work for the next president of the United States.

When Obama's campaign began to look at Facebook and the options it provided, they found Hughes. Way led to way and Hughes joined the Obama team. He was hired on the spot. He's that good.

“Technology has always been used as a net to capture people in a campaign or cause, but not to organize. Chris saw that was possible before anyone else,” says David Plouffe, Obama campaign manager.

That is what I call job security—to create the very thing your employer or client desperately needs but has no idea what is. Pure gold.

Hughes proved himself a very valuable asset Obama’s quest to the White House by employing his philosophy.

My.BarakObama.com, Hughes main tool, served as a social networking source to empower citizens and turn them into activists without the aid of any actual human field staffer. The site quickly became a place to create groups, organize events, raise funds, download tools, and connect with other Obama supporters. Best of all, it was cheap and effective.

At the end of the campaign, volunteers had created more than 2 million profiles through the site, planned more than 200,000 offline events, formed 35,000 groups, posted 400,000 blogs, and raised $30 million on 70,000 personal fund-raising pages AND their guy got elected. I'd call that a success.

Hughes contributed vastly throughout the campaign and should be credited largely with Obama's victory. Barak Obama was a huge commonality for so many people. Obama knew that he would need a nation of organizers to win--that is exactly what Hughes gave him.

So, take notes on this Hughes guy. I think he may end up going somewhere :)

iPhone? iPill? Same difference...

It seems like something you would see on a science fiction movie--but no.
This thing is real and it's here.

Philips's R&D unit is currently working on an 11-by-26-millimeter capsule. This tiny device is loaded with tiny sensors, a microprocessor, a fluid pump, a wireless transmitter, and medication. Patients can ingest it just like any other pill. This device permits doctors to deliver drugs directly to a specific area of the gastrointestinal tract. These kind of advances will help treat illnesses such as Crohn's disease.

What will they come up with next? Seriously.