SAW a good idea

GoodGuide To Go

GoodGuide, the free and innovative online tool which rates the healthfulness, environmental impact, and social performance of any given personal or household product has finally gone mobile.  Educated, but impromptu buying decisions are now possible for greenies.  Not only have they released an iPhone application, they are also offering text message service for those too poor or too sustainable to give up our 2-year-old cell phones!  GO GOODGUIDE!  YAY!

Open Source, She Says

I've never been lured by a woman-only group before, but, since my friend (and former Renegade) Sonali Sridhar was speaking about her work as an Interactive Architect at an open source software company, I was happily reeled in to a new experience: an event hosted by SheSays, a group that "was founded in March 2007 in the UK with the aim to help women further their careers in digital advertising through informative debates and a bespoke mentoring scheme."   

Briefly on the subject of interacting with only women involved in the Ad/Interactive/Marketing Biz: WOW!  I loved every minute of it.  I felt fully embraced by this group of intelligent, driven, and opinionated ideaters.  The experience was liberating and confidence-boosting.  Sorry boys, but the girls rock at talking  ideas - which brings me to the subject of open source.

For those who are unfamiliar with the term "open source," it refers to anything collaborative and open to those who wish to attribute and contribute.  In addition to Sonali's presentation about the history of and current trends in open source software, which introduced the groundwork and methodology for open source culture, we had two other presentations from two brilliant companies founded on this philosophy.

The first was from the founders of BurdaSyle, an open source sewing site where members create and share copyright-free sewing patterns, advise each other on sewing techiniques, develop project ideas, and show off their creations.  In the same spirit of wikipedia, Burdastyle's philosophy is the antithesis of  the fashion industry's elitism.  It is an open forum for social design.

The second presentation was about Design 21: Social Design Network, a company created in partnership with Fellissimo (a global design and merchandise company) and UNESCO, which seeks to unite designers in a globally-influential and collaborative way to positively impact the world. 

They state their mission much more clearly on their site, so I'll let them speak for themselves. 

All in all it was an inspiring evening that was well-peppered with discussion and debate.  There was one really great question brought up in our discussion last night that I want to ask before I sign off. 

How can competitive design be considered social design?

This question was raised because Design 21 encourages participation by hosting regular design competitions to solve global problems.  The disconnect between competition and social improvement is something to consider.  I want to know what you think.

 

MGM will post full-length movies and shows on YouTube

Finally, Spaceballs on YouTube!  Google has made a deal with MGM to post full-length movies and television shows on YouTube.  This is a smart move, as relative newcomer Hulu continues to gain popularity on the web.  Thank goodness the media industry is catching on and providing content online.  Aside from combating piracy, it's the smart thing to do as people continue to move from the television to the laptop for entertainment.

Spam gets 1 response per 12,500,000 emails

Even with a response rate of  0.00001 percent, large-scale spammers still bring in millions in profit.  According to an article today from techradar.com one of the largest spam networks, Storm, has enough email power to generate $7,000 a day - roughly $3.2 million a year. Truly amazing (and slightly depressing) statistics.