Adver-Kiosk

Says Alan Harper from the show Two and a Half Men as he is having a nervous breakdown at the bookstore . Charlie in an effort to calm him down tells him, "don't worry, start with one," Alan replies, "(practically crying) there is no time... " Charlie then says, "sure there is, you can read them while in the bathroom," and to close the scene, Alan says, "you dont understand... I dont have enough bowel movements left." As I was watching the show, I have to admit that in some sort of weird way I could relate to what Alan was feeling. I love reading, but lately, and particularly since becoming a grad student for the second time, there is literally no time to read enough. The more I read about a subject the more I want to understand it (because the more I realize I do not know enough on that)... its a vicious cycle, haha. Gladwell suggests the 10,000 hour rule (to expertise), now I have a closing question, is this based on practice, theory, or bo...

After watching the show last Friday, all I could think was last time I saw him leave the Late Show, and how sad, but happy he was to be moving to LA for his dream job - the Tonight Show. Any how, as I was wondering what to write about, I came across Matt Ufford's Yahoo blog entry, and thought he summed it up very very well. Enjoy! By Matt Ufford Friday, January 22, 2010, 11:49 PM Conan O'Brien finished his tenure as host of "The Tonight Show " with a show that was star-studded but unconventional. He spared NBC from the ire he had directed at the network during the previous week as the network sought a solution to its late-night imbroglio. Instead, he celebrated his brief opportunity to sit behind the most famous desk in late-night television. While longtime friends Tom Hanks (who coined O'Brien's "CoCo" nickname last spring) and Neil Young (who fittingly sang "Long May You Run") made noteworthy appearances, the most memorable state...

I have to be quite honest, and just like the rest of the US, and well practically the world, I enjoy taking my daily dose of pop culture. The most interesting thing is that while going to college I always enjoyed reading about what were the latest trends in fashion, entertainment, movies and/or business, to name a few. The coolest thing of all is that back then it king of was my guilty pleasure, and I mean now it is part of my job!! (how cool is that, seriously?) As a Planner you should have it at least once a day. You need to know what is going on with the world! Top 10 Interest things happening RIGHT NOW!! -- how aware are you?? Conan vs. Leno - though this is about to come to an end by EOW, well, you need to watch their show to see how they are bashing each other! Leno vs. Letterman - in with the old, and out with the new... whaaaat?! Helping Haiti - everyone wants to help, and that is great, no wrong there, the coolest thing is leveraging social media and texts to do so. Avat...

I am almost certain that if you are reading this entry, well you most likely also have a Facebook account. If you do, then you have noticed the icons on the side saying "you might know X" or "Say hello to Z" or "Recommend Friends to B" or my personal favorite "Reconnect with Y." Well, as I have checking my messages on FB the other day, I noticed the two messages that you see on the right. Well, though I really enjoy reading their recommendations on whom to say hello to, this one caught me completely by surprise, my FB page was suggesting me to "say hello to Corey" while another one was telling me "reconnect with her." The irony of the suggestions is that Corey is my wife!! Two things came to mind: 1) This is pretty cool, reminding you to court your significant other (virtually) cheap and a nice touch! OR 2) They system doesn't really differentiate what the meaning of "Corey is married to Isaac" on her page, and w...

While watching the movie, Inglorious Basters, a very interesting quote made me pause the film and write about it. The setup of the scene is that the Hitler has sent Colonel Herr to look for Jews in France. He has been given this job because he doesnt think like a German, but as a Jew, so he knows exactly where and how to look for them. He stars off the scene by saying, "if I thought like a German I would look in the attic, the closets, etc..." But... "because I'm aware what tremendous feats human beings are capable of once they abandon dignity" How true does this quote ring to you? Have you (or someone you know) gone through the impossible, improbable to evade or achieve something? Putting this quote into a marketing/advertising perspective, all that comes to mind is that consumers are willing to go the extra mile with what they have. There is a saying, that I really dont know if it translates to English, "Nadie es indispensable" - "Nobody is ind...

While traveling a couple of months ago, I came across a very innovative toilet, one that says "In a hurry, well, no worries here, dont waste time (and toilet paper covering or cleaning the seat, I've got you covered, literally!" Before I move on, let me clarify that the toilet doesn't really talk, and I clarify that because in today's environment, well this is not totally impossible. Anyway, back to the story, so I was in Chicago for research, and I have a confession to make, I love airport bathrooms just because of the people that use them. Think about the last time you were in one... The following are some of the personas I've seen: I have be on the phone while using the bathroom (too many emails to reply to...) I'm on a conference call, but I really have to go, so I won't hang up No time to shower, I will just shave here I have to tell my wife my plane is running late, but I cant wait to tell her, so I'll do it while in here A lot of documents t...

Making bank deposits, checking in at the airport , renting movies... I know that the automatization of our culture has been discussed an published in more than a couple of books, articles and newsletters, but as I was depositing a check at the ATM machine a couple of days ago a thought came to mind: When did this happen? As I was pondering on the situation I realized that I had already adopted the technology and didnt even remember the first time I did it. Of the three examples that I have, two I really dont mind not interacting with people (depositing checks which I do very seldomly, and checking in at the airport which I do fairly often). Those two I dont mind at all because I can do them at my own pace, and most importantly, whenever I want - so strictly convenient. As for renting a movie at a red box... this one I had the most trouble with. I mean, whatever happened to grabbing the box, seeing where other people spent most of their time? Dont get me wrong, a $1 a day keeps your bei...