Tuesday, September 30, 2008

IT'LL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!




A disclaimer right out of the gate - this blog entry isn't exactly about new media, but it's kinda related in that it talks about technology . . . sorta! Well - it actually talks more about an invention and how it is guaranteed to change your life.

I came across this invention again yesterday inside the men's room of a boutique hotel in Manhattan Beach. It's actually been something I've wanted to talk about and share since my first encounter with it at LAX but just hadn't gotten around to it. But after yesterday I was determined to spread the "best thing since sliced bread" gospel about . . . (drumroll please!). . . . The Dyson Airblade!!
What is it you ask?! Quite simply, it is the fastest and all around best automatic hand dryer EVER CREATED!!! From the first time I used it, I knew that it would be just a matter of time before it rendered all of those other hand dryers obselete -- and mark my words - by the time 2009 rolls around you'll see this contraption everywhere. 12 seconds to completely dry your hands -- are you kidding me?! Does this mean no more hitting the button on those old hand dryers with my elbows and still looking for paper towels after they've run for full minute?!?
Laugh all you want now - but I guarantee you that you'll be one of the converted after the first time you use one.
Kudos to James Dyson - that guy is one smart Brit! Now if could only figure out the whole toaster thing . . .

AH THE GOOD OL' (WEB 1.0) DAYS!!!

Couldn't help but feel a little bit of net-stalgia while reading this Alley Insider article from Robin Kawakami giving us a "where-are-they-now" update of some of the most memorable stars of THE BUBBLE. After all, who can forget some of these these hall of famers:

1. Brian Pinkerton (WebCrawler)
2. Craig Kanarick and Jeffrey Dachis (Razorfish)
3. David Bohnett (GeoCities)
4. Deidre LaCarte Steenman (Hampsterdance)
5. Garrett Gruener and David Warthen (Ask Jeeves)
6. Graham Spencer, Joe Kraus, Ben Lutch, Mark Van Haren, Ryan McIntyre and Martin Reinfried (Excite)
7. James Hong and Jim Young (HOTorNOT)
8. Jason Olim and Matthew Olim (CDNOW)
9. John Romero (id Software)
10. Jonathan Gay (Flash)
11. Joseph Park and Yong Kang (Kozmo.com)
12. Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman (GovWorks, "Startup.com")
13. Mahir Çağrı
14. Michael “Fuzzy” Mauldin (Lycos)
15. Mike Burrows and Louis Monier (AltaVista)
16. Paul Gauthier and Eric Brewer (Inktomi)
17. Pets.com Sock Puppet
18. Philip J. Kaplan (FuckedCompany)
19. Randy Constan (the Internet’s Peter Pan)
20. Sabeer Bhatia (Hotmail)
21. Steve Madere (Deja News)
22. Toby Lenk (eToys)
23. Todd Krizelman and Stephan Paternot (TheGlobe.com)

Looking through this list, the first thing that comes to mind is how unfair it is to leave off so many other qualified candidates -- here are just a few to get those memories flowin'!:

Wonder what the Web 2.0 list will look like . . . any predictions?!?