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Articles
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Aquafina labels to spell out source - tap water

Ken's Abstract:   Bottled water - brainwashing consumers.
Why it's important:  Tell me again, why do we buy bottled water when the tap is perfectly fine?

Web Video New '08 Political Battlefield

Ken's Abstract:   How YouTube videos are effecting the election.
Why it's important:  To what degree can any citizen (or non-citizen for that matter) with a camera impact the outcome of the election?

Running the Numbers

Ken's Abstract:  Visual representation of statistical data.
Why it's important:  Does this method of visual education make the information more impactful?

Antique engines inspire nano chip

Ken's Abstract:   Without a totally new way to create computers we are reaching the threshold to overcome Moore's Law.
Why it's important:  Is computing reaching a new wave of advancement and what will this mean for technology?

GM showcases plug-in hybrid car

Ken's Abstract:   One step closer to the electric automobile; does it matter if we're still burning coal to power it?
Why it's important:  Is GM serious this time, after pulling the EV (See "Who Killed the Electric Car") why should we believe they're serious about this model?

A Lesson in Online Branding

Ken's Abstract:   Attempting to define the right ingredients for online ads
Why it's important:  How accurately can awareness, persuasiveness, and positive brand impact be measured?

Time May Not Exist

Ken's Abstract:   Really? Time may not exist at the most fundamental level of physical reality.
Why it's important:  Will I still get presents once a year to commemorate my birthday?

Congested Paris freewheels into future

Ken's Abstract: Facilitating automobile alternatives.
Why it's Important: If we can borrow books for free, why not bikes?

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Tools
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We Feel FIne - WOW this is cool!  An real time emotional thermometer of the world based on weblogs.

Going.com - new alternative to upcoming.com, a way to keep track of your social events.

ReeledIn - An online video and Indie Film Social Networking Site

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Events
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8/9/07 -  Lunch 2.0 at Powerset in SF

9/15/07 - Treasure Island Music Festival

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Videos of the Week :
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GigaOM Show - Inaugural episode of a show (based on the GigaOM website) on technology and business.

Frontier Psychiatrist - Avalanches amazing music video from a few years ago... We'll be checking for their long-anticipated follow-up rumored to be coming soon via the uber-hot Modular Recordings


How to Stop Speeders in Your Local Neighborhood

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Podcast of the Week:
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“Dos and Don'ts” for writing and distributing online releases

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Pictures of the Week:
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Country in the city



























Coercion



































Written by Ken Fisher for EMERGE

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Articles
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The Brand Gap - How to Bridge the Distance Between Business, Strategy & Design

Ken's Abstract:   5 Disciplines of Brand Building.
Why it's important:  Everyone has their own theory about good marketing, is Neumeier onto something?

Minding the Gap in Sizing Up Sale Prices

Ken's Abstract:   Pricing behavior is a science.
Why it's important:  How can we use the art linguistics, phrasing and positioning of numbers to be more impactful?

This Is How It Should Feel

Ken's Abstract:   An engaging campaign that reflects a brand's true values in a way that isn't intrusive.
Why it's important:  What's so hard about making advertising that doesn't feel like advertising?

A Social-Networking Service With a Velvet Rope

Ken's Abstract:   With file-sharing capabilities Pownce is more than just a social network.
Why it's important:  Is it the new Limewire, Bittorent & Napster?

Online Video Ads: Work in Progress, says Google

Ken's Abstract:   Pre-roll, post-roll, in-stream ads and how to target online video ads.
Why it's important:  How should online ads be delivered?

Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train

Ken's Abstract:   Didn't we already learn that cheaper isn't better?
Why it's important:  How can a role model ruin its reputation in two weeks; can it recover and how will our manufacturing relationship with China change?

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Tools
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How to Craft a Killer Elevator Pitch That Will Land You Big Business

mypunchbowl.com - organize events better

Socializr.com - promote events with media from Flickr, YouTubes, blogs etc.

Renkoo.com - organize events with a personal touch

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Events - SF Centric
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8/9/07 -  Lunch 2.0 at Powerset in SF

9/15/07 - Treasure Island Music Festival

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Videos of the Week :
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The Anti-YouTube - How will the game of video broadcasting democratization play out?

Chuck's Secret - A 2 part campaign: using YouTube to slow down subliminal messages.

Tea Partay - Smirnoff 1 year old viral


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Pictures of the Week:
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Dismantling a building from the ground up:







































London's Castle House:






















































Take up residence in the Castle House, a proposed London Skyscraper, and you'll find yourself paying as much as 40% less on power, as the building will be generating most of it for you.  The building is designed to aerodynamically channel wind through the three nine meter turbines that sit on top of the 43 story building.

Written by Ken FIsher for EMERGE

EMERGE was on vacation last week so apologies for bringing your our weekly Cutting Edge highlights post a couple of days late. A continued thanks to Ken Fisher over at Influx for whipping this together for us week in and week out

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Articles
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Live concert recordings on USB sticks

Ken's Abstract:  CD's are outdated, this new wave for music sales personalizes the experience by letting you take home the live recording of a concert you're at.
Why it's important: Why can't this idea apply to everything we enjoy - conferences, classes, weddings?

Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy’s Couch

Ken's Abstract:   You thought the thinking behind the Matrix was cool.
Why it's important:  There's a 20% chance we're living in one.

Didja Hear NBC is Taking on YouTube?

Ken's Abstract:   NBC is launching an all advertising video site.
Why it's important:  Don't commercials drive pop culture?

The Future of Gaming

Ken's Abstract:   "Games like Trauma Center are a lot of fun (the player is a surgeon who performs everything from removing cysts to heart surgery) but they have a greater potential if applied to the medical field."
Why it's important:  How is game development evolving and where is it headed?


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Videos of the Week :
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Eric Ryan - Founder of Method

Post Secret

Brian Eno Talks About His 77 Million Paintings

Ken Robinson on Being Creative

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Tools
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Preezo

Zoomr

Spock

Last.fm

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Events
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9/8 - 9/9/2007 - Singularity Summit

2/24 - 5/12/2008 - MoMa: Design and the Elastic Mind

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Book of the Week:
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BOOKS - Freak Show

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Podcast of the Week:
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This American Life: The Spokesman

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Pictures of the Week:
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By Ken Fisher for EMERGE

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Articles
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The anti-Tivo: Product placement beats the 30-second spot
 
Cutting Edge Abstract:   NextMedium automates and standardizes the process of product placement in TV shows, movies, and videogames.  Advertisers can search through the requests to evaluate and bid on the available placement opportunities. NextMedium's site also allows for the director or other creative professional to approve and sign off on each placement.
Why it's important: How quickly is the 30-second spot dying?

Spirit Airlines CEO Says “Let Them Tell The World How Bad We Are” In Email Faux Pas.

Cutting Edge Abstract:   Customer complains.  CEO shrugs them off.  Bloggers spread the word.  Airline takes a hit.  "The comment trail on blogs far and wide is starting to grow, USA Today has gone national with the story and it won’t be long until the small airline CEO’s arrogance and downright rudeness starts to affect ticket sales."
Why it's important:  How are individual bloggers changing the world?

Is There Anything Good About Men? And Other Tricky Questions

Cutting Edge Abstract:   A better understanding of the evolution of the sexes.
Why it's important:  Does social insecurity in men encourage productivity?


Clever students create cheapo DIY Segway

Cutting Edge Abstract:  A team of ingenious do-it-yourself'ers put together a fairly workable Segway knock-off for less than a thousand dollars using off-the-shelf supplies.
Why it's important:  How is DIY changing businesses?

Filmmaker's Tool Kit: Creating a Movie with Web 2.0

Cutting Edge Abstract:   "You have to write your film, cast it, shoot it, edit it, and distribute it to the masses. Web 2.0 applications and services can help with (nearly) all of these phases."
Why it's important:  Content creators are still playing catch up but will the advent of easy to produce film saturate the market and overwhelm consumers or carve a path to the much awaited niche content that long tail theorists predict?

Teen Unlocks iPhone From AT&T Network

Cutting Edge Abstract: Since the details of both hacks are public, Apple may be able to modify the iPhone production line to make new phones invulnerable.
Why it's important:  Didn't similar resistance create problems for Apple's computing business?

Assignment: Jump the Shark

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Tools
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Pandora Jam - Discover new music and record it

Walk Score

Blinkx

Free Books Online

Deezer - free music on demand

Google Sky

How I made my presentations a little better (including the 10/20/30 rule)

USB Cassette Deck

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Events (SF CENTRIC)
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9/8/07-     Singularity Summit 07
9/14/07-   Dwell On Design
9/22/07-   SwapSF Presents: The Most Hyperbolic Clothing Swap Ever!

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Videos of the Week :
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Colbert Report Clip: Andrew Keen - Why the Internet is Destroying Culture

How do you beat YouTube?

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

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Pictures of the Week:
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GIant Paper Boat


Hole Punch Art


By Ken Fisher for EMERGE

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Articles
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Here are the 10 game-changing startups most likely to upend existing industries - and spawn new entrepreneurial opportunities.

Cutting Edge Abstract:   Spotting the next Disruptors: 10 businesses with the potential to rewrite the rules of existing industries or open up entirely new markets.  Blinkx indexes 14 million hours of web video and uses software to turn speech into text.
Why it's important:  Could this be the technology advertisers are looking for to better target consumers?

A student campaign using the social networking website Facebook has forced an international bank into a U-turn over charges.

Cutting Edge Abstract:   Thousands of students on Facebook threatened to boycott the HSBC, so HSBC listened & responded.
Why it's important:  How can applications like Facebook give power back to the people?

Meraki Empowers San Franciscans to Free the Net

Cutting Edge Abstract:  Meraki takes a truly unique and innovative bottoms-up approach by empowering individuals to connect and build a Wi-Fi community.
Why it's important:  Will free public internet become a reality in SF & what's the best way for it to happen?

Vint Cerf, aka the godfather of the net, predicts the end of TV as we know it

Cutting Edge Abstract:    "You're still going to need live television for certain things - like news, sporting events and emergencies - but increasingly it is going to be almost like the iPod, where you download content to look at later."
Why it's important:  How is content consumption changing, how rapidly and how will you use your TV in 5 years?

The Facebook economy

Cutting Edge Abstract: Web 2.0 opens its doors to developers like Slide.
Why it's important:  How will advertising play into social networking applications?

Bonfire of the Brands:  How I Learnt to Live Without Labels  by Neil Boorman 

Cutting Edge Abstract:  This is a book exploring how brands have come to dominate our world.
Why it's important:  Has your identity become based on the purchasing decisions you make?

Softening a Message

Cutting Edge Abstract:  Softening ad campaigns so they aren't so hard-hitting.
Why it's important:  How are lobbyists affecting your health?
 
User Generated Video Seeks a Business Model

Cutting Edge Abstract:  Crackle.com allows viewers to rank content.
Why it's important:  Will user generated videos be able to compete?

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Tools
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SplashCast

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Events (SF CENTRIC)
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9/8/07 - Singularity Summit 07
9/14/07 - Dwell On Design
11/10/07 - Green Festival

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Videos of the Week :
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What is a Temple - A look at Burning Man

Zink - Inkless printing

Play Pumps

Robot Chicken Gummy Bears

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Pictures of the Week:
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Posted by Ken Fisher for EMERGE