So many interesting developments and discoveries – I hope I get to explore in detail at least some of what came by my path this week. I hope you get to investigate some of these places, articles, thoughts, concepts and what have you…here is this week’s smorgasbord.
Image courtesy of Matador Network
Lovely Libraries: Does the sight of rows of books give your goosebumps? Do you go into raptures when you enter beautiful libraries and book stores. You will enjoy this phot0 essay in Matador Network on the Amazing Libraries of the World. This essay is not from the last week but this is information that surpasses time and I wanted to share the joy of these inspiring literary spaces.
Facebook for Films?: Warner Bros has started a program to use Facebook for renting movies. The payment will be via Facebook currency which has so far been used mainly for online games. This experiment may well re-orient the way we think of online entertainment, e-commerce and F-commerce! It is an app for Facebook developed by Warner and may well be indicative of the path forward for Hollywood studios.
Image courtesy of Time Magazine
What kind of online profile do you really have?: Time Magazine has a thought-provoking cover story by Joel Stein in the March 25th edition. We spend thought and effort creating our public profiles on various social media sites. But is that all the world sees of us? The data that is mined from sites we visit and things we buy offer advertisers a real insight into who we are. The profile that emerges can seem very invasive in that everything, from what we like to eat to which side of the bed we sleep on, can be part of our data profile. Stein makes the interesting point though that advertisers are not really interested in getting to know us as individuals. They are only interested in bits and pieces as it can be used for targeted advertising. Do you like sports? Here are some tickets that may interest you. Do you enjoy good deals? Here are some coupons that you may like to buy. Stein uses his inimitable style to explore the idea of privacy in the age of social media. The data mining companies may have our most private information but they are not really interested in the whole person behind it all. So, ultimately it is nothing personal!
Stringing Words Together 