It used to be that you could take notice at the outset of a poor essay or speech when it began with the dictionary definition for the central topic. The Simpsons referenced this at least once

Homer: “What is a wedding? Websters defines it as a process of removing weeds from ones garden.”

But now lazy bloggers and NPR journalists are pretending to channel the zeitgeist by using the number of Google hits for their term as a proxy for cultural relevance. When the numbers are over 1,000,000, how meaningful is this? It’s simply a cheap cliche.

Full disclosure: I’ve probably done both of these and will probably do them both again. In the interest of always trying to tell better stories, I will attempt not to, however.

Safety Tat is a product based on the parental practice of writing a phone number inside a diaper or on a backpack.

It can happen anywhere-at an amusement park, zoo, school field trip, or even your local shopping mall. Your attention shifts for a moment, and suddenly your child or loved one has wandered out of sight.

So put the odds in your favor for a safe return, with SafetyTat. Designed by a graphics professional and Mom of three kids, SafetyTat is a fun and colorful kids temporary safety tattoo that’s uniquely personalized with your cell phone number.

See also Forehead Advertising.

Thanks, CPT!

From What I’ve Learned: Vint Cerf (“creator of the Internet”) in the latest Esquire magazine (italics mine)

There was a first “Oh, no!” moment. That was the first time I saw spam pop up. It could have been as early as ’79. A digital-equipment corporation sent a note around announcing a job opening, and we all blew up, saying, This is not for advertising! This is for serious work!

(Update: link to article here)

It’s not A digital-equipment corporation (and really, who speaks like that?) It’s Digital Equipment Corporation, aka DEC, aka Digital.

One letter changes the details of the story somewhat (I suppose it’s not crucial to know who sent this first spam), enough to make it clear that the copy editor had no context about the era in technology and business that Cerf was talking about.

I’m reminded of the challenges with interviews transcribed using an overseas service:

Male: It keeps searching and then it is–

Female: So what did it come up with?

Male: Well, I did come up with tickets.

Female: Get out, you are kidding me. I should go, where is this at? In Denver?

Male: Denver, yeah. In the Betsey Center.

Female: Okay, well try and find me some tickets in Tampa.

I’m pretty sure the Betsey Center is actually The Pepsi Center.

• And I forgot my camera – at Experience Matters
  Very pleased to see my photos cited as a leading example in the work of observing and understanding culture…that was the thrust of my plenary talk at ASU’s design research symposium last weekend.
• Translated review of From Here To There
  Last weekend’s design research symposium at ASU

• Droste Effect Packaging – a package with a picture of the package on it
  This really blew my mind as a kid; it was great later on when I learned about the mathematical/computer programming notion of recursion.
• Geeky and complex explanations of recursion on Wikipedia
  Basically it’s something that is defined in terms of itself. Or a function that uses itself to complete its task.
• Volvelles, or Wheel Charts
  Those circular disc things that you rotate to look up information.
• Guides to Culture, Etiquette, Customs and Protocol
  For whatever they are worth. Listed by region and country.

• Cellphones, Jan Chipchase and the Developing World
  Lengthy article to appear in this weekend’s NYT magazine.

Earlier this week I spent the day with the design team of a global technology company. I can’t say much more but I can share a couple of photographs from different bathrooms.

The standard soap dispenser has been repurposed for hand lotion. The soap comes from the other kind of standard dispenser, a foot away, next to the sink.

Washing your hands is a fairly unconscious behavior, you assess the space visually and quickly move through the various tasks…so who stops to read the sign that says Hand Lotion? That sign serves more of a “here’s how you messed up, buddy” explanation than as a preventative measure. I had a hard time stopping myself from getting hand lotion when I wanted soap.

We did have a group discussion about observing signs in the environment to identify workarounds and opportunities for improvement and so I was pleased to have an example from their environment to share back. This ended up in the always enjoyable men’s bathroom vs. women’s bathroom comparison…in this office the women’s bathroom includes a dispenser for hand sanitizer (in addition to soap and lotion). Unfortunately I didn’t get in there to take a picture. But, oh, the mode errors!

I was struck by the presumed need for this sign in a different bathroom, explaining what locked and unlocked look like. I had this quick “well that’s dumb” reaction, took the picture, used the facility, and then upon exiting realized that I had failed to lock the door! I’m not sure exactly how I managed to not lock it, since that is another automatic behavior.

In both cases, the signs themselves caught my attention, but I still exhibited the behavior they were trying to prevent (taking lotion instead of soap, leaving the door unlocked).

See also Signs To Override Human Nature, previously.

• The Crocodile Tears of a Clown
  When real people become brands, it’s difficult to maintain coherence. Today the father of Steve Irwin tell us his son concealed pain and suffering behind his enthusiastic public persona.

• Jenny Holzer – TRUISMS 1979-1982
  In the film Helvetica, a poster of these Truisms is seen behind Stefan Sagmeister when he’s seated at his desk.
• Stefan Sagmeister – Wikipedia
  I didn’t know he designed the Stones “Bridges to Babylon” cover
• Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture.
  Interesting doc. I liked the b-roll (explorations of text in our environment) as much if not better than the interviews. If found the schools of thought – text-drives-meaning vs. design-drives-meaning – a compelling exploration.

• Wired’s “Artifacts from the future” from 2005
  Typically are clever pieces of conceptual design, capturing some element social or technological flux and exaggerating it forward in time as a thought exercise.
• Wired’s “Artifacts from the future” from 2006
• Wired’s “Artifacts from the future” from 2007