I read Mortimer Adler’s How To Read A Book and it was well worth it. Farnam Street highlights one of the most important passages:
“Reading a book should be a conversation between you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the subject than you do”
Source: Reading a Book is a Conversation
Last week, ABC aired a new episode of the popular show “Shark Tank” that featured my friend Neil Joglekar (@njcar) and his business partner Justin Lee. Neil and Justin’s product, Napwell, is the world’s first napping mask.
I grabbed sushi with Neil when he was in town to tape the “Shark Tank” segment. There was no guarantee that it would air. I’m glad it did. Congratulations Neil!
Watch the full episode of Shark Tank including the Napwell segment on ABC’s official website.
Santa Claus is real, but kids of a certain age begin to question this fact. My step brother, Tripp Reed, secretly recorded Santa Claus in his living room last Christmas. When he showed me this video, I immediately thought that it could be a big hit online. Earlier this week, he gave me the green light to upload and promote it. The goal is not necessarily to go viral overnight, but I can tell by the early growth that “Santa Caught On Tape” has what it takes to put up six digit view numbers.
The real story here, though, is that kids are able to see that Santa is real. And that’s more important than going viral.
Do you know the Internet works? It’s okay if you don’t as long as you watch this five minute video.
I decided to start blogging consistently again because I believe clear writing means clear thinking. If I’m going to do it, though, I have to do it my way.
1. I will only write about topics that interest me.
2. I will only write about these topics when I am inspired.
3. I will experiment with new ways to present my content.
4. I will fearlessly share my ideas, experiences, insights and opinions.
5. I will create something that’s useful for you and me.
Path just released a standalone chat messaging app called Path Talk that their branding as a replacement to SMS and Facebook. Typically this kind of news doesn’t do much for me, but there’s a little more to Path Talk that I think is worth talking about.
Path acquired TalkTo a couple days ago, and will be implemented the TalkTo technology into Path Talk later this summer. TalkTo allowed consumers to ask questions to stores and restaurants by text. And Path Talk will do the same when they add ‘Place Messaging’ to Path Talk later this summer:
Place Messaging will enable Talk messaging between you and any local business. Make dinner reservations, book hair appointments, get prices, hours, and check in-store availability all without ever placing a phone call.
For whatever it’s worth, Path is kind of desperate to make something that sticks, especially in the USA. While they used to be a fairly prominent app, they had to lay of 20% of their staff in October 2013. And last month, Pando Daily wrote a pretty tough piece about the status of the company, saying it may be the “beginning of the end”.
I love hearing the perspective of people who built strong brands in the pre-digital era, and have successfully transitioned into present day. Angie Martinez is a prime example. During her interview on The Breakfast Club, Martinez shared his perspective on how the media has changed over the years.
It’s the easy thing to go for the [sensational] blog headline or whatever is going to get you a click online. That’s like fast food. It’s cool in the moment, but sometimes it deteriorates people’s brands because then who are you? [It makes you] a slave to a click or how many likes you get or how many posts you make. I feel like people lose themselves chasing the immediate hotness. Like, ‘Oh they’re talking about me today,” where it’s good or bad. I feel like that takes away from authenticity. You have to be patient. You have to be able to build an honest brand…
Fans of AMC’s new show “Halt and Catch Fire” can listen to character-specific playlists on Spotify curated by the show’s music supervisor Thomas Golubić. Pretty cool move by AMC that also shows-off one of Spotify’s best features.
There are a lot of people trying to figure out how to link your TV set to your phone or tablet for a “second screen” experience. Here is one that actually makes a lot of sense: Spotify playlists for major characters in “Halt and Catch Fire,” AMC’s show about the PC business in the early ’80s.
These aren’t soundtracks for the show, though sometimes songs that appear on the drama will appear on the playlists, assembled by Thomas Golubić, the show’s music supervisor.
Instead, each playlist is supposed to “help elaborate on the different characters and their headspace, to articulate their journey with music,” said Golubić, who has also provided music for shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Six Feet Under.”
[ReCode]
USA Today’s sports section, FTW, recently added a ‘Share to WhatsApp’ button to all of their articles. According to a USA Today case study, 18 percent of the total social sharing of FTW content is now happening using WhatsApp. That’s 5% more than Twitter. And that’s significant.
Since introducing a WhatsApp sharing button to its mobile site a week ago, FTW has already seen WhatsApp shares climb to 18 percent of the site’s overall sharing activity. That’s higher than Twitter (13 percent) but still significantly lower than email (35 percent) and Facebook (34 percent).
Last night I watched Talking Funny, an HBO program that features Louis CK, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Ricky Gervais discussing what it means to be a comedian. Talking Funny offers a lot of comedic insights, but one of the most interesting comes from Louis CK, who most would consider the current king of stand-up comedy.
