Threshold Blog

Stumble!

"StumbleUpon lets you "channelsurf" the best-reviewed sites on the web. It is a collaborative surfing tool for finding and sharing great sites. This helps you find interesting webpages you wouldn't think to search for."

With over 2 million registered StumbleUpon users, I may be a little late to the party talking about this, but I don't care. For something this fun and educational you need to keep spreading the word. With this addictive app, you can stumble in and out of unchartered surreal and instantly enjoyable websites with just a click of a Firefox Add-on nav bar button.

So get out there and start stumbling! And then post a blog when you find something of interest.

We've Been Punk'd!

I just picked this new book up today, Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution. For even the entry level punk rocker it's take-no-prisoners Manifesto (below) states the obvious. But, then again, that's what most effective manifestos usually do. I reckon this insurgent treatise will be a galvanizing rally call to all the ad agencies and brands out there that are already diving head first into the endless possiblities of new media in 2007. Viva La Revolution!

1. Avoid Risk and Die
   In times of change the greatest risk is to take none at all.

2. Why Not Ask ‘Why Not?’
   Assumptions are just that. Anything you assume is usually a half-truth or generalizations that once served a useful purpose but now hinders truly creative solutions.

3. Take a Strong Stand
   Trying to be all things to everyone on the planet inevitably results in meaning little of interest to just about anybody.

4. Don’t Pander
   Customers are important but they are not necessarily right.
   
   
5. Give Up Control
   Consumers now control brands. Smart marketers recognize this and embrace it rather than fight the powerful truth.

6. Expose Yourself
   A relationship of trust between brand and consumer, like that between two people, is built upon honesty.

7. Make Enemies
   All brands need to position themselves against an alternative.

8. Leave Them Wanting More
   Avoid the temptation to reveal all of your assets at once. Or as the masters have said: You don’t teach them everything you know. You teach them everything they know.

9. Outthink the Competition
   Think smarter than the other dude. Do not be led into temptation by the fast buck and don’t try and outspend them.

10. Don’t Be Seduced By Technology
    The media is not the message anymore. The message is the message is the message.

11. Know Who You Are
    If you don’t understand what it is that you are good at you might be tempted to try and be something you are not.

12. No More Marketing Bullshit
    Get to the point. Express it clearly and simply. Einstein said — we believe he meant marketers: “Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler.” 

13. Don’t Let Others Set Your Standards
    Sorry to tell you this but good no longer means anything while mediocre does more harm than doing nothing.

14. Use the Tools Of The Revolution
    Go write your own Manifesto. Remind yourself of its articles whenever you lack resolve.

Find out more at: www.punkmarketing.com

16 Things I Learned at SXSW

Here's my 16 Things I Learned at SXSW PowerPoint presentation posted on SlideShare.

Welcome to the Grindhouse

Have a gritty look inside the Grindhouse theater. WARNING: Not for the squeamish!

What are you doing?

Got back from the whole SXSW interactive, film & music conference yesterday and all I have to say is just one silly word: Twitter

Twitter is a social networking service that allows members to inform each other about what they are doing and what they think. It allows users to send messages via phone, instant messaging or the Twitter website. The Twitter team won the 2007 SXSW Web Award for the best blog site.

Go read David Armano's in-depth blog entry on the subject at Logic+Emotion: Twitter Love + Hate

Oh and don't forget to add me when you sign up!

Weird Web Trail: Conspiracy Theory — Or Marketing For Nine Inch Nails LP?

The contents of some conspiracy theorist's personal manifesto? The plot of a rote first-person shooter? The results of a quick jaunt through Snopes.com? Actually, it's all part of the elaborate (and somewhat terrifying) concept behind Nine Inch Nails' upcoming Year Zero album (due April 17), details of which are currently being disseminated through a series of increasingly spooky — and downright odd — Web sites.

NIN Article 1

NIN Article 2

Show Yourself!

Here's a cool widget that will show everyone all your social network IDs, with links to boot!

Go to:  http://www.dbachrach.com/showyourself/

Threshold site is now live!

Hi all!

In case you haven't noticed, the THRESHOLD site has undergone a little facelift. Check it out here! Enjoy!

Wikipedia Challenges Google

"The online collaboration responsible for Wikipedia plans to build a search engine to rival those of Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., the founder of the popular Internet encyclopaedia said on Thursday. Wikia Inc., the commercial counterpart to the non-profit Wikipedia, is aiming to take as much as 5 percent of the lucrative Internet search market, Jimmy Wales said at a news conference in Tokyo."

Reuters Article

How To: Build a Badass Snow Fort

One of the best things my step-father ever taught me was how to build a proper snowfort. Oh sure, I’d carved out a few cubbies in snowdrifts before, but nothing like the labyrinthine lairs I soon began developing like missile bases under the snow. Assembling a good snow fort is an all-day endeavor. It’s work. But the rewards—a toasty nest in which a kid can kick back with a candle, some cocoa, and a few books for a few hours—are totally worth it. If nothing else, it’s an early lesson that the best things sometimes take a little sweat.
The Secret