May 2010

The Future of Foursquare: Value or Novelty?

The Future of Foursquare

The Future of Foursquare: Value or Novelty?

Is it a revolution in location based social media, or the latest fad destined to fizzle out?

Any seasoned Foursquare user is familiar with the ebb and flow in interest with the application’s use. After initially registering for an account, the excitement that comes along with each additional check-in can only fully be understood by a fellow Foursquare user. Before you know it, you’re planning your lunch break based upon the likelihood of obtaining a new (or securing an existing) mayorship. Your nights out are swayed in the direction of adding to your collection of badges. You won’t even commit to where you grab a cup of coffee before scouting the other Foursquare users in attendence.

And then…

The check-ins keep coming, but the badges and mayorships don’t . “[Insert mayor’s name here] cheats. There’s no way he/she is here more often than me. I live here.” The push notification to your smart phone alerting you that a quasi-acquaintance is at the grocery store across town is more irritating than informative. Your co-worker is the mayor of the cubicle next to you, bathroom stall number 4, his parents’ garage, his favorite park bench, and won’t stop bragging how much better at Foursquare he is than you.

The novelty has worn thin.

I now present to you, two possible paths for Foursquare. Path number one leads to an impending lull in curiosity and eventual demise. Path number two makes Foursquare the most important location based application your smart phone will ever need. The outcome lies squarely in Foursquare’s hands.

Read the rest of this post at TECH Cocktail.

The Ultimate Collection of Hilarious News Bloopers

The Ultimate Collection of Hilarious News Bloopers

Which one of the following two statements are correct?

  1. News Bloopers Are Hilarious
  2. My Ringtone Is Justin Bieber

Trick question. They’re both true.

Newscasters are people that we look to for an unbiased narrative about what’s happening in the world around us. In our heads, they may as well be information spewing robots (Tom Brokaw). When they do anything that reveals that they’re still highly fallible creatures, i.e. make reference to the size of their johnson (see: below), the hilarity effect is multiplied.

I now present to you, my favorite local news bloopers. If there’s anything that I left out, please, either send me an e-mail or drop a comment below. Enjoy…


Warning– Potty Mouth Language may ensue.

Read more

How to Make The Worst Sports Music Video Ever

Here’s a short tutorial in How to Make the Worst Sports Music Video Ever:

Step 1) Have Creed sing it

That’s it.  You’re done.

If my sports team ever did this to me, not only would I burn every jersey I owned (along with that of friends’ and family), I would dedicate the rest of my days to raising money for their biggest rival?  Thankfully I don’t live within 2,000 miles of Miami.

This is where I would call out a famous Marlins’ fan, but I don’t think there are any.

Found this video over at Gingers Is the Watchword.  That site will cause laughter.

The Good Badger Video 6.0

If you just so happened to huff a whole bunch of glue before stumbling into this video, you’re in luck, because it requires 0 brain cells to comprehend.  In other words, ignore the content (even more so than normal).  This is more a chronicling of my learning Final Cut than it is an attempt convey any resemblance of a thought.  If you derive even one ounce of joy from this, bonus points to you.  I now present…The Good Badger Video 6.0

Good Badger Video 6.0 from zach davis on Vimeo.

5 Ways to Network Without Feeling Dirty

(Good Badger Note: Today’s guest post is written by Justin Kownacki, the self proclaimed “Armchair Sociologist and Perpetual Contrarian”.  I stumbled upon Justin’s blog during one of my innumerable conquests through the Interweb, and have made his site part of my regular rotation ever since.  If you’re a fan of witty insights and sarcastic humor, I strongly encourage you to check it out. [Since you’re here, I’m guessing you prefer mediocrity?]

In the past I’ve hinted toward my disdain with the concept of “networking”.  Since The Good Badger spends most of his time 4,000 yards under a bunker anticipating the impending apocalypse, I went in search of a more qualified candidate to tackle the topic.  Justin was nice enough to comply.  Without further ado, Justin Kownacki now presents you the “5 Ways to Network Without Feeling Dirty.”)

When The Good Badger asked me to write a guest post about building relationships, he mentioned his aversion to the word “networking.” To him, “networking” has a selfish, impersonal connotation.

And I agree. But that’s probably because the people most likely to use the word “networking” in a sentence are the same people who have a webinar or a time-share scheme that they can’t wait to sell you.

At its core, networking is impersonal. It’s a strategic expansion of the people you know well enough to ask for favors. And if that’s not selfish and impersonal, I don’t know what is.

The real problem is that we have our priorities backwards. Read more

Google Predicts the Future

It was recently announced that Google can now predict the future….

While filling out your Google Profile, one question asks to suggest something that you might not be able to find on Google.  Mistakenly, I figured this was either a trick question, or an attempt at some subtle humor.  Little did I know, Google uses this as their suggestion box.

See for yourself:

(click to enlarge)

The Good Badger Guide to Becoming A Better Internet Music Adoption and Discovering Machine

I am music obsessed.

I know, everyone loves music, but my observations tell me that the majority of people have a healthy relationship with it.

Not me.  It dominates my life.

At work, many know me as  “that guy who beatboxes down the hallway”.  The rest likely know me as “that guy who annoyingly beatboxes down the hallway.” Read more