Catching up with writing

It's been a long time since I was able to post a blog entry. Due to my job at namics, it has become increasingly difficult to get my head free for the things that matter to me. I am not the type of person who divides work and life that much anyway, so the things that …

10 ways to get things done without the need for a GTD program

1. Be rigorous in sorting out what's worth following and spending time for and what not. There's a thousand things a day that will pile up minutes in wasted time.
2. Develop your own culture and stick to it. It's not a program, it's a direction.
3. Learn to utilize imperfection. …

Forget logos

A little more than a week ago I was asked to design a logo for a Web startup. It's a bookmarking service, quite similar to Diigo. I negotiated with my friend who had sent me the request, evaluating the process of branding. It would have been a low-budget job, so I …

Hulu doesn't get how the Internet works

To: feedback@hulu.com

Subject: Imagine there's no countries

Dear Hulu,

After you ignored my first email, I will give it one more try, before I'll go ahead and post this message on my blog.

In my first note I tried to point out the futility of putting shackles on a …

Poolga.com, for better iPhone wallpapers

It's got one of those hard-to-get domain names. No, not hard to get what they mean, hard to find one that isn't taken, because they sound and look so fashionably Web 2.0.

Poolga is a site with a simple mission: to populate your iPhones with better wallpapers. It's …

On my nightstand

With this post I'm starting a new series, named after a little piece of furniture you tend to forget once it is sitting aside of your bed. Independently of its looks or hidden qualities, a nightstand works best when it demurely serves its purpose without drawing a lot …

The late blog entry

If you have followed this blog for some time, you may have wondered why it suddenly went quiet. Well, it didn't stop really, it only got interrupted.

The reason why I haven't been blogging lately is simple. In October 2007, I started a new job at namics in Zurich, and …

Let your music speak to get real friends

Here's a lesson I just learned. It's a tale about people, friendship and the ugly business of marketing. Which is the common term for the field I work for, believe it or not. Brand consultancy and conversation marketing are my bread and butter, and I do a lot of …

Respectful friend requests

After another load of disrespectful friend requests from promoters, I decided it's time to found a group on virb. I called it Respectful friend requests, because that is what it really is all about.

Check it out and if you think alike, maybe you want to join the …

How to save the world (without eradicating its main source of trouble)

Today is Blog Action Day. For 24 hours, 19,974 blogs write about one topic: the environment.

It seems that everyone agrees: the …

A home without windows

With all this talk about revolutionary Web applications, Web 2.0 and transitional Web, I am always baffled to find how many new sites, as good as they are looking, are running into classic design mistakes.

Take Mindmeister, for an example. Or Gifttagging or Apple.

Some reflections on BlogCamp Switzerland

There is something about unconferences I find extremely attractive. I have been to uncounted meetings, workshops, conferences and events. Most of them are presentations of slideshows, filled with programs, shows and the firm idea of someone trying to sell you …

Cisco buys Tribe

Here is an interesting tidbit I got from Tribe in my email this morning.

"... we (Tribe) sold the software to Cisco and most of the engineering team went along with the deal to reduce overhead."

Tribe is a social network similar like MySpace, Friendster, Facebook and …

The end of Cablecom

By the end of this month, I will hand my landlord a form with a formal application to turn off cable TV. That is right, I will no longer be able to watch TV through cable. (I need to apply for the disconnection through the landlord, because in Zurich most households …

One hour

It is quite early in the morning and I had only one cup of coffee. I have less than 20 minutes to go and yet I dared to start another blog post.

The trick is not to think of those 20 minutes. I think of it as a sprint, not a marathon, which my articles usually are. …

Broken U.S. visa policy ignores economy needs

On my way to the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, I read a short column in the International Herald Tribune. It was a small note on the upper right corner of a page dominated by a headline about Thailand blocking Youtube access.

The article, subtly titled "U.S. hits …

Website for JWT Switzerland

Assignment

In March 2005, core was assigned to create a concept and lead the project to develop the new website of JWT+H+F, the Swiss advertising agency, part of the international JWT network. The project took three months …

Consulting for wis.dm

Task

The community website wis.dm is a Web 2.0 startup in Boston. At the time core collaborated with wis.dm, they had a staff of around ten people. Core consulted them in design, user experience, usability and information architecture and provided solutions for their …

You have no control

Advertising Age writes in a report:

Mark Greatrex, senior VP-marketing communications and insights, will launch the "Sprite Yard", a mobile community where its young-adult target can share information, photos and chat. And by using numbers printed under bottle caps, …

Life on the fast lane

Life on the fast lane, that's how we used to describe people who lived a life of sex, drugs and rock'n roll. It had usually to do with social ignorance and there was always a certain amount of alcohol, cigarettes or other drugs involved. Life on the fast lane meant a …