Before we blow too hard on our righteous indignation whistle, let’s just go straight to the takeaway for you and me, the users: Do not hand out your email credentials just because someone asked for them. It may seem obvious at this point (as I said, this practice isn’t new), but whether you’re at a phishing site or an actual web site looking to spam your friends, family, and coworkers, think very carefully about whether or not you want to give someone you don’t know or trust the keys to one of your most important portals of communication.

via Lifehacker - Don’t Give Your Email Address and Password to Other Web Sites - Email Etiquette.

I admit, I’ve put in my email address into some site that I probably shouldn’t have… just a reminder that sometimes I’m not as smart as I think I am.

I switched to using a double monitor at work, with RocketDock (on autohide, but it’s there) and the OS X Leopard background.

It seems cool, but the tools which we use are only as good as the results that we can get from them. For me, this is like a blank canvas (a really expensive one, but still…). It challenges me to step up my game and create some really great stuff for you guys.

And off we go….

Care for:

1. The product
2. The medium
3. The end result
4. The process

Email is still brian@brianfeener.com… or leave a comment.

One of the major points of the book is that we as a society are trying to find a peace on this earth by developing a true connectedness with the outside world. We are not beings unto ourselves; rather, we are individuals with the opportunity to develop a relationship with the outside world. The more fulfilling and positive the relationship, the better we are able to develop.

In a marketing sense, the relationship we develop with brands is a by-product of that drive to be in touch with the world outside of the self. Marketing campaigns are centered around the idea. When Justin Long says, “Hello, I’m a Mac” and John Hodgeman, “And I’m a P.C.,” it’s an attempt by the advertising agency to project an identity onto the customer. When we by the computer, we “become” the computer (or at least see ourselves in the image of the images).

Marketers can use this identity creation process as positive image, negative image or one with no consequence (the category most brands fall in, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). With a little bit of ethics, I think that we can use the idea of “I’m a ____” in a good way.

That’s all for now. Email is still brian@brianfeener.com.

I have been a little busy at work but don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned this spot yet.

I think this is a lesson for anyone out there trying to put out a product that it takes more than simply the will to do… you need other infrastructure and (maybe) capital.

Lately, I’ve been trying to make more face-to-face connections and eschewing the tweets and posts… I should try to make time for everything.

But the point of this post: I’m not done blogging… see you more soon.

One of the more mundane conversations you can have with someone is the “elimination of the middle class.” Ultimately, there are few solutions that you can do on a micro-level and it becomes just like complaining about the weather. (It’s not like you can make it stop raining.)

But there are some parallels with the shrinking middle class (economically-speaking) and the disappearing acts of some of the mid-major record labels. With big tickets like Universal and Sony looking to get tighter ships, the push behind the core group of artists is going to get harder.

And while I think that the ultimate future of these labels is something similar to what happened to Ken Griffey Jr.’s career, the big record company still has the benefit of being well integrated into the machine. They are not going anywhere anytime soon.

Just Blaze, starting at around the 5min mark, talks about the Saigon album and the issues behind the release of the mixtape. Listen to the whole interview though because it’s totally worth it. (Did you know that JB was the primary songwriter behind T.I.’s “Live Your Life?”)

You’re either going to love it or hate it. The new iPod Shuffle is out today (3/11/09), has no buttons, and is smaller than Rey Mysterio.

I think there’s nothing better than new technology pushing the envelope, but c’mon now, Steve. No buttons at all? Selling proprietary headphones? That’s such a low-down dirty move. What next? Selling proprietary digital formats???

Oh.

While it’s sometimes fun and stress relieving, I want to take the content to the next level by focusing on music, the music industry, and what we can all learn from it.

If in 6 months this is more boring than a Christopher Cross song, then we’ll make another format change.

SONG: C-N-N // “Invincible”

JUST FOR FUN: “The American Pyschiatric Association’s Dating Website” by Frank Ferri

A MATCHBOOK: Hotel Wareham

INTERVIEW: With my a really great up-and-comer Drake, through Eight81.com. Check out his Mixtape “October’s Very Own.”