Geisenblog

guardian: The New York subway photographs of Christopher...

Mon, 03 Feb 2014 21:53:36 -0500

The New York subway photographs of Christopher Morris

This atmospheric series depicts the chaos and squalor of New York’s subway system in 1981, in all its graffitied glory. The then 22-year-old Christopher Morris – these days best known for his war photography – was interning at a photo agency. “I was new to New York, at the very start of my career, and I became mesmerised by the total urban decay, that was most visual with the subway system.” See more

david-noel: wired: Elon Musk is constantly traveling between...

Tue, 13 Aug 2013 09:02:23 -0400

david-noel:

wired:

Elon Musk is constantly traveling between San Francisco and Los Angeles to attend to his business at Tesla and Space X. So he said to himself, “there has to be a better way.”

Turns out there is.

Load yourself into an enormous shotgun shell and shoot yourself 400 miles across the state at 800 mph. It sounds crazy, but Musk swears it will work. And if he doesn’t build it, someone else will.

Musk’s proposal to revolutionize mass transit is called the Hyperloop. It would transport passengers in individual aluminum pods powered by turbines and solar energy in above-ground tubes, cost $6-10 billion to build, and make the trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 35 minutes. Oh, and a ticket will run you around $20.

But it only exists in a 57-page alpha white paper. And if someone grabbed the idea and ran with it today, Musk says it would still be 7 to 10 years away.

[MORE: Elon Musk’s Fantastical Vision of Mass Transit]

These are the kind of big ideas we need. These are the kind of leaders we need. People who dream up big and crazy things. People who are determined to prove to all of us that crazy ideas are possible.

I want to live in a world where I can imagine that in years time, I will sit on a thing like that instead of a plane between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Come on world, let’s do it.

Agreed. Hot damn this is cool.

TapCommerce Insights: Attribution on mobile is fundamentally different

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:21:26 -0400

TapCommerce Insights: Attribution on mobile is fundamentally different:

tapcommerce:

Summary: View-through attribution should be more influential in mobile compared to desktop since viewability isn’t an issue.

Why I’m doing what I’m doing.

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:28:44 -0400

Why I’m doing what I’m doing.

TapCommerce Insights: The biggest oversight iOS app developers make

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:41:25 -0400

TapCommerce Insights: The biggest oversight iOS app developers make:

tapcommerce:

Last month, Twitter announced a new feature for developers called mobile app deep-linking that received less attention than it deserved. This feature allows app developers to enable links directly to their apps from tweets. To use one of Twitter’s examples, say you take a photo in Path and…

I wrote a blog post today. It’s pretty rare, so check it out if you get really excited about mobile marketing and arcane developer features in iOS 6.

fuckyeanba: SHUMP!!!!!

Tue, 07 May 2013 22:19:49 -0400

fuckyeanba:

SHUMP!!!!!

jstn: forecast.io, from the creators of Dark Sky Instantly...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:50:51 -0400

jstn:

forecast.io, from the creators of Dark Sky

Instantly replaces everything else weather-related on my phone.

anthonybourdain: Yes, this is happening.

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 19:47:40 -0500

anthonybourdain:

Yes, this is happening.

tapcommerce: betashop: Mobile revenue @fab. 3 slope changes:...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:08:09 -0500

tapcommerce:

betashop:

Mobile revenue @fab. 3 slope changes: (1) Launch ramp 15% to 30%, (2) Steady 2012 33%, Dec 2012 - Jan 2013 to 40%+, and beyond. Our goal is to be 50%+ very soon.

Fab continues to see rapid mobile growth as a percentage of revenue. Perhaps a sign of things to come for a majority of e-commerce companies?

oldtimefamilybaseball: starlinsandpinstripes: Who is the face...

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:02:53 -0500

oldtimefamilybaseball:

starlinsandpinstripes:

Who is the face of the Miami Marlins? Aka one of the best things I’ve seen ever.

Well, I mean, there are just so many options. Still, the obvious answer, for now and always, is Jeff Conine.

View from the roof of the Christodora House on Avenue B in...

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:00:29 -0500

View from the roof of the Christodora House on Avenue B in 1929.

(via @evgrieve)

tapCommerce Insights: 2013 will be the year of mobile commerce

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 20:02:13 -0500

tapCommerce Insights: 2013 will be the year of mobile commerce:

I’m reblogging myself because tapCommerce’s tumblr is still a WIP. Follow us for more stuff like this.

tapcommerce:

When we look back on the holiday shopping season in 2012, we’ll see that mobile platforms are increasingly becoming a viable way for consumers to shop. There’s already an abundance of data that supports this from Black Friday and Cyber Monday. According to a report from IBM, Cyber Monday saw an increase of 70% in mobile sales. The iPad represented 7% of all online sales and completely dominated competing devices by producing 90.5% of all tablet e-commerce sales. 24% of Black Friday retail traffic came from mobile devices up from 14% in 2011 and less than 1% in 2009. The trend is clear and it’s not reversing. What’s leading to this shift in user behavior?

1. Mass adoption of smartphones and tablets. Apple has sold 100 million iPads in less than three years. There are 1 billion smartphone users globally. The growth rate of smartphone and tablet adoption is far surpassing that of other platforms/devices. This is both across device purchases and usage. In two years, mobile internet use has grown >300% and represents 13% of global traffic. Mobile commerce is merely a subset of this macro trend.

2. Improved mobile shopping experiences. As a result of the above and their own internal data, e-commerce companies have realized that they need mobile optimized websites and dedicated native apps across platforms. Companies like Branding Brand and Revel Touch are rapidly growing to accommodate the demand from traditional e-commerce companies who don’t have mobile design expertise in-house. “E-Commerce 2.0” companies like Fab, Gilt and One Kings Lane are increasingly taking a mobile first approach and thinking about mobile platforms ahead of the web. Fab anticipates that they’ll see 50% of sales from mobile next year. Companies that have built mobile-optimized and/or native app experiences are seeing higher conversion rates and increased adoption of using mobile devices as part of normal buying behavior.

3. The advent of “couch commerce.” This is less quantifiable than the above, but it’s an anecdotal observation that you’ll be hard-pressed to deny. People shop on their desktops/laptops while at work to procrastinate. When they get home, they’re increasingly sitting on the couch, watching TV and on their smartphone or tablet answering emails, playing games and, of course, shopping. You’ve done this. I’ve done this. I think this behavior will continue to increase and #1 and #2 will be gasoline on the fire.

It seems clear that as Apple and the bevy of Android manufacturers continue to churn out high-quality mobile devices, consumers will increasingly discover new things to buy on the go or while relaxing at home using these emerging platforms. The companies that have built best of breed UX on mobile and who are able to acquire and retain customers efficiently will reap the benefits of this behavioral shift.

"80 percent of our revenues are from products that didn’t exist 60 days ago. Is there any other..."

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:14:00 -0500

“80 percent of our revenues are from products that didn’t exist 60 days ago. Is there any other company that would do that?”

- Tim Cook

This is the best quote from the BW profile.

A Creative Brief

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 18:42:50 -0500

I haven’t written about my new gig yet because I’ve been busy with the new gig. Here’s one of the (many) things I’m currently working through. If you think you can help, give me a shout:

I’ve got a fun task that I need help with. Quick disclaimer: I’ve never written a creative brief so don’t hold me accountable for a general lack of adhering to conventions or using the right terminology. I hope that’s not a problem. If it’s a problem, I guess we shouldn’t work together?

So here’s the deal: I want to partner with someone to form an early-stage start-up’s brand identity from a design standpoint. This entails helping us come up with:

a kickass logo

a refreshed website to reflect this new design sensibility (ideally working within bootstrap if that’s cool with you)

initial frameworks for marketing collateral: keynote deck, one-pager template, that sort of fun stuff

probably some other things that will occur to both of us when we talk.

This project is for a company called tapCommerce (told you we needed a little help). People are increasingly turning to their phones and tablets to buy things. We help companies selling things to reach people buying things on their mobile devices efficiently and then keep them coming back for more. We’re based in SoHo, NYC.

If this sounds like something you think you can help me out with, I’d love to hear from you. Shoot me an @ reply on Twitter with a link to your work and I’ll give you a shout.

Looking forward to working with you!

Tobias Peggs: Just got acquired? 10 adjustments to make when working for a Big Co.

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 12:39:27 -0500

Tobias Peggs: Just got acquired? 10 adjustments to make when working for a Big Co.:

tobiaspeggs:

I just left Walmart.

I arrived in September 2011 as part of the transaction that saw OneRiot acquired by the world’s largest retailer.

We had some clever technology for targeting relevant content at mobile consumers based on their social signals, not to mention a super-smart team of Big Data…

Nice post on navigating big companies. Certainly a lot of this resonated for me based on my time at CBS. I’m now taking the reverse approach and I’ve spent the last two years learning how to operate at a start-up pace.

newyorker: I took a spin through the archives and—lo and...

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:42:18 -0500

newyorker:

I took a spin through the archives and—lo and behold, I discovered something quite fascinating: today, even the richest among us do not eat Thanksgiving like the rich of 1900.

Click-through to read Macy Halford on the time Mark Twain tried to move Thanksgiving, and for more on Thanksgiving menus in 1900.

This is quite the meal…

Bros are awesome (via Deadspin)

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 18:38:30 -0500

Bros are awesome

(via Deadspin)

File under “things that made me laugh uncontrollably...

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 16:48:42 -0500

File under “things that made me laugh uncontrollably today.”

(via Grantland)

Photo

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 16:34:04 -0500

mattlehrer: Apocalyptic photos from the MTA.

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:23:56 -0400

mattlehrer:

Apocalyptic photos from the MTA.