Follow-Up

There are 521 posts filed in Follow-Up (this is page 31 of 53).

Young Americans not driving? Why would they?

I was mulling over the last post about young Americans not feeling the need for cars and I think I have one idea why.

It used to be that if you were a kid curious about the world we live in, you’d have go out and explore it. This usually required a car of some sort. Things are radically different now. Through the magic of the Internet (and 500+ channel cable/satellite TV), the world now comes to the kids! Kids nowadays can find out far more information on places and people than I ever could as a kid growing up. Outdated, dead-tree encyclopedias and magazines only take one so far.

While there’s still no substitute for actually being there, technology today can get one pretty close. With so much exploring available at their fingertips, kids can take their time deciding where they want to go.

Can we revisit our can policy?

Recycling bin


I made an unexpected trip home from my office Wednesday to fetch something I had left behind. On this brief trip I saw two different homeless men walking with bags of cans. No, I didn’t call the cops, but I did realize that more homeless people seem to depend on these cans than I had first thought. No one wants to jail homeless people for trying to get by and I know our police officers aren’t interested in doing that, either.

My issue with recycling theft stemmed completely from seeing men in pickup trucks systematically scouring recycling bins, never with the homeless people trying to get by. Perhaps Raleigh’s recycling theft ordinance should be adjusted so that those taking smaller quantities might not be unfairly targeted.

One suggested adjustment the ordinance I’ve heard would simply make the contents of the recycling bin the city’s property and make it a crime to remove them, omitting the spelling out of any penalty. Raleigh could then choose how to respond based on the level of the theft. It’s definitely worth considering.

Little Raleigh Radio’s board meets

Little Raleigh Radio


We had the first meeting of the board of directors for Little Raleigh Radio last night and, in a fit of insanity on the board’s part, I was elected chair. I stressed that it was an interim position until we get more board members and I sort out how much time I have to devote to it.

I’m excited about the progress, though. It’s a good team and last night’s meeting was very productive. We can certainly get this done, and before we know it a new station will be on the air from downtown Raleigh.

Digiboo DVD download kiosks

Movie Booth DVD download kiosk


Remember last year when I spied that intriguing DVD download kiosk in the Seattle airport? Looks like it is similar to the kiosk service put together by a startup company called Digiboo, according to a news story today.

The rental service, from Santa Monica, Calif.-based Digiboo, is being introduced at a time when consumers are shifting away from movie rentals to online movie streaming. Whether the Digiboo kiosks mark the next evolution in watching video, or just another dead end like the Betamax VCR, they illustrate the enduring allure of the movies even as technology morphs them into new forms.

[snip]

The first kiosks were installed at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Next up: the Seattle and Portland airports, Thomas said. If the concept is successful, thousands of kiosks will be put in a variety of public places, he said.

I thought initially today that the booth I saw might have been a Digiboo booth but the article seems to indicate that Digiboo hasn’t been installed at the Seattle airport after all.

I guess the mystery remains as to who owns the DVD download kiosk at SEATAC.

Update 12:10 PM: I did a little Google sleuthing and believe the “Movie Booth” kiosk I saw was from a company called LightSpeed Cinema in Los Angeles. I found one press release from December 2008 that mentions that LightSpeed Cinema is Santa Monica-based, as is Digiboo. Are these companies one and the same? I’m guessing they are and the DVD kiosk I saw in Seattle is an early Digiboo model.

Here’s Digiboo’s website. Also, this press release offers more details on the company.

Yet another infographic

An Internet acquaintance forwarded to me this email he received from our infographic-making friend Tony Shin:

From: Tony Shin imtinytony@gmail.com
Date: Sat, Mar 17, 2012 at 1:17 AM
Subject: A graphic on the ethics of the wealthy
To: blah blah blah at gmail.com

Dear Editor,

While I was searching for blogs and posts that have talked about social psychology, I came across your site and wanted to reach out to see if I could get your readership’s feedback on a graphic my team and I designed, which focuses on the studies found on how those socially and financially well-off behave unethically compared to the lower ladder.

If you’re interested, let’s connect.

Thanks! =)

—
Tony Shin
@ohtinytony

The infographic in question can be viewed here.

Google search turns up many infographic mentions

This Google search on “infographic my team built” seems to find many of these spam emails posted on various websites.

Look closely and you’ll find a few sent by our friend Tony Shin, too. Here’s another, and another, and another.

Here’s a whole blog post of Tony Shin’s infographics. Here’s another.

Here’s another from Peter Kim. It was taken from the HackCollege.com website, which is (surprise!) also registered through Moniker:
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Mystery infographic email part of stealth SEO/marketing scheme?

Looks like I’m not the only one who’s gotten the mystery infographic emails. I found this post on blogger Andrew Gelman’s blog:

A personal bit of spam, just for me!
Posted by Andrew on 13 March 2012, 6:50 pm

Hi Andrew,

I came across your site while searching for blogs and posts around American obesity and wanted to reach out to get your readership’s feedback on an infographic my team built which focuses on the obesity of America and where we could end up at the going rate.

If you’re interested, let’s connect. Have a great weekend!

Thanks.
***

I have to say, that’s pretty pitiful, to wish someone a “great weekend” on a Tuesday! This guy’s gotta ratchet up his sophistication a few notches if he ever wants to get a job as a spammer for a major software company, for example.

Similar formula. It’s pretty slick, actually.

The real Peter Kim?

Peter Kim


A Google search shows that Peter Kim is a search engine optimization guru. Note his bio on Amazon.com for his soon-to-be-released book:

Peter is currently Chief Strategy Officer of Dachis Group.

He is a leading advisor on social business, working with clients on strategy formulation and driving global industry discourse. Peter has been quoted by media outlets including CNN, CNBC, NPR, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal and featured as a speaker at events including SXSW, Web 2.0 Expo, and Dachis Group Social Business Summits.

?Peter was previously an analyst at Forrester Research and head of international marketing operations, e-commerce, and digital marketing at PUMA AG.?? He holds degrees from the Darden School at the University of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania.
This biography was provided by the author or their representative.

He also has a blog on seomagpie.com, as does Response Mine Interactive. I don’t know if this is the same Peter Kim who wrote me but it’s possible.

Update: SEO guru Peter Kim grew up in Atlanta, where Response Mine is located. I don’t know if they’re connected or not, however. I do know that his Twitter page lists his email address as hello@beingpeterkim.com, which is strikingly similar to the hello.pkim@gmail.com address that was on the email I received. I’m leaning towards this being a SEO stunt of some sort.

Update 18 March: Peter Kim, SEO guru, says he’s not behind the infographics.

City council appearance

I made an appearance at Raleigh City Council this afternoon for a Parks board item which requested the city apply for status as a Playful City USA. Before I got to the microphone, the Council told me they were all fine with the agreement and promptly voted unanimously to approve it. It took me longer to put on my suit than it did to present the item, which was a welcome change!

The Council also approved making recycling theft a crime. Only District B Councilor John Odom voted against it, which is surprising to me. I thought he would be all for protecting the city from having to raise its recycling fees, and willing to protect the privacy of his constituents by discouraging strangers rummaging through their recycling. I’m not sure his reasoning, since at one point during today’s debate he said he “wasn’t against” the ordinance yet voted against it anyway.

With multiple homes in my neighborhood losing their air conditioning units (one just two doors down) to metal-scavenging thieves, I feel we should discourage these jackasses from prowling the neighborhood. Hopefully this will help.

Update 7 March: In response to a comment on the N&O story about this, let me say again: this isn’t about homeless people, it’s about professional metal scavengers working neighborhoods. Homeless people don’t fill up their pickup trucks with cans (and work in teams, for that matter). Folks need to apply some common sense here.
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