Sunspots: The disruptive edition

Sunspots: The disruptive edition 37signals Nov 15

13 comments Latest by Richard

Death metal band logos: Scary logos from Zyklon (Norway), Extreme Noise Terror (England), Vomitory (Sweden), Dead Infection (Poland), Regurgitate (Sweden), etc.
Netflix and fast iterations: “We make a lot of this stuff up as we go along. I’m serious. We don’t assume anything works and we don’t like to make predictions without real-world tests. Predictions color our thinking. So, we continually make this up as we go along, keeping what works and throwing away what doesn’t. We’ve found that about 90% of it doesn’t work.”
Kathy Sierra on how she makes her graphics: “People pay attention to graphics. They respond to graphics. They learn from graphics. If you want your readers/learners/audience to ‘get’ something as quickly and clearly as possible, use visuals. And you don’t have to be a graphic artist, designer, or information architect to put pictures in your presentation, post, or book. This post is my first attempt to categorize the kinds of graphics I do here, and offer tips for creating visuals that tell the story better and faster than words.” Related: The power of rough edges.
SmugMug saving big using S3: “Total amount NOT spent over the last 7 months: $423,686. Total amount spent on S3: $84,255.25. Total savings: $339,430.75. That works out to $48,490 / month, which is $581,881 per year…These are real, hard numbers after using S3 for 7 months, not our projections.”
LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy creates jogging-friendly track for Nike: “The DFA cofounder has just teamed up with Nike to release 45:33: Nike+ Original Run, a 45-plus-minute track designed to accompany joggers on their workouts. Displaying Murphy’s inimitable production style, the track has the dynamics and temporal ebb and flow of an eclectic DJ set, beginning with a long, warm-up segment, moving into a rousing Afrobeat crescendo, peaking with double-time disco, and finally coming back to earth on a parachute of cool, ambient synthesizers.”

Steven Wright’s paintings: The comedian is also a painter. He was recently interviewed by The Onion.
Daring Fireball: 'Beta' Is Not an Excuse: “What Disco smells like to me is released. And released software — particularly released software that is available for sale — is open for criticism. In what way does Disco, or any other app that is labeled ‘beta’ but is available for sale to the public, deserve to be cut any critical slack?”
Kottke: “For podcasts, there’s no need to fill airtime with anything but content”: “The playing of music before segments and as transitions between segments makes some sense on the radio, where it’s used in some cases to fill airtime. But for podcasts, there’s no need to fill airtime with anything but content. 30 seconds of music before the actual podcast begins is the audio equivalent of Flash splash pages on web sites.” Hmm, long intros can certainly be annoying but transitions that help bridge disparate parts can provide some nice breathing room and ease segueways.
Honda, individual enjoyment, and flow: “Many business thinkers write about managing innovation, as if innovation were a thing. But innovation is ultimately the expression of a set of behaviors originating in the individual. So rather than focusing our energy on understanding the output of those individuals (innovation), we should think instead about how to lead those individuals so that they can be as innovative as possible. Could creating a culture of innovation be as simple as cultivating a culture of enjoyment?”
How to get on TechCrunch: “Don’t use descriptions such as ‘revolutionary,’ ‘Web 2.0,’ ‘huge,’ ‘change the way you’ll use the Internet,’ and ‘disruptive.’ This is what Mike calls ‘cheap adjectives,’ and they are kisses of death in Michael’s eyes.”
RetailMeNot.com offers coupon and promotion codes for online stores: “Many online stores allow for a ‘coupon’ or ‘promotion’ code when you order to automatically assign discounts, deals and freebies (kinda like money for nothing). RetailMeNot.com is a place for finding and sharing these coupon codes. So… when you buy online, check here for discounts first (unless you’re frikkin crazy).” [via GE]
Minimalist breadmaking technique: “A truly minimalist breadmaking technique that allows people to make excellent bread at home with very little effort. The method is surprisingly simple — I think a 4-year-old could master it — and the results are fantastic.”
Apple ditches 'Mac Guy' in new ads: “Apple’s ‘I’m a Mac’ campaign is almost perfect: It’s funny, memorable, and efficiently lays out the advantages of Macs over PCs. It’s only defect: Virtually everyone who watches it comes away liking the ‘PC guy’ while wanting to push the ‘Mac guy’ under a bus.” Update: Mac Guy Justin Long denies he’s getting the boot (“I’m literally setting my alarm right now to wake up for a mac shoot tomorrow.”) [tx Jesper]
NanoNuno Umbrella uses lotus leaf for inspiration: “In nature, a fascinating effect is produced by the microscopic, rough nanostructure on the leaves of the lotus plant: Dirt and moisture simply roll off. This is because there is a much smaller surface area to which things can stick than on a smooth surface. The design of your NanoNuno® umbrella is based on this natural principle, with the result that moisture does not penetrate the fabric and so there is no tedious drying.”

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13 comments so far

Jesper 15 Nov 06

The “Mac guy”, Justin Long, is not fired, according to… himself.

The Colonel 15 Nov 06

I don’t know what’s more terrifying… the names of these bands, or the illegibility of their logos.

Yeesh.

Luke Redpath 15 Nov 06

As a death metal fan, the reaction of people with little exposure to that kind of thing continues to amuse…(see above). :)

Personally, I think death metal logos are great when done correctly, and just stupid when done badly. The Cryptopsy logo is my fave though (but then I’m a fan and biased).

http://www.sinister.com.au/_features/btwnarok/bar17/cryptopsy.gif

Oh, and full marks to anybody who can work this one out:

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre200/e275/e275097zjgw.jpg ;)

matthew 15 Nov 06

I’d add Steve Jobs’ recent commencement speech your excellent list:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Connect the dots.

Ansh 15 Nov 06

Where can I get one of those brollies without having to pay for shipping across the pond?

brad 15 Nov 06

The minimalist breadmaking technique really works—I’ve done a few loaves using this recipe since it was published last week and it’s the best bread I’ve ever made (and I’ve been baking bread for 20 years). You might want to use just a smidge more yeast than the 1/4 teaspoon called for…my only complaint is that my loaves didn’t rise as much as expected, but in terms of taste, crust, and crumb you really can’t beat this bread with any other home baking technique. The two secrets are time (you mix everything together and let it sit for 16 hours or more) and cooking the bread in a blazing hot covered container (cast iron is ideal).

David Smit 15 Nov 06

I agree with kottke about podcasts. I want content in podcasts. Podcasters, please stop wasting my time

Jesper Rønn-Jensen (justaddwater.dk) 15 Nov 06

Mentioning death metal logos, we should not forget Danish upcoming 80’s parody metal band: Insidiöus Törment (add more röckdöts where appropriate).

Their logo is somewhere between scary and funny. http://www.insidioustorment.com/band.htm

BTW their lead singer is actually a decent cartoonist as can be seen on their album covers.

Yeah i know it’s kind of off-topic guys, but you were the ones bringing up the theme of death metal logos :)

Brendan 17 Nov 06

In my opinion, http://dealcoupon.com/ and their family of sites is a much better option for online coupon and discount codes.

Though not directly applicable to their coupon listings, their deal listings are “guaranteed.”

from: http://dealnews.com/about/about.html

Implicit in our guarantee:

We never list a higher price from another store just because it is an advertiser. We ban any store that we find has a history of poor customer service. We list the best deals period, regardless of our relationship with the seller.

sam hill 17 Nov 06

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Emperorlogo.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ulvernewlogo.gif http://enure.net/arcturus/i/arcturus.png

Richard 19 Nov 06

What’s ‘almost perfect’ about an ad which misses it’s goal completely?

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