ReadPhoenix: Top Blog Posts of the Week #3

Two weekly posts in a row. Do you know what that tells me? It says in no uncertain terms that I am not writing enough. That is one of the most valuable benefits I receive by doing this. The weekly write-up gives me an obligation to post regularly and the desire to make sure those scheduled posts are not my ONLY posts.

It is also great for me because it ensures I do not miss anything going on in local blogs. I want to keep up with what people are talking about locally, but if I did not set this obligation for myself, I probably would not spend time making sure nothing slips through the cracks.

Blog: BrainFuel
Author: Thomas Chapin
Company: Tornado Design
Post Title: Overnight Project

Tom whipped up a fun micro site recently, 100factsabout.com. It allows you to input a person’s name and it will return “100 completely accurate, verifiable facts about anyone.” Everyone has probably heard a couple of “Chuck Norris facts” during the last couple years. Now those same fun facts can be applied to you, your friends, or even your enemies.

Early this week, an anonymous Twitter user popped up on my radar, linking me to BrianShalerFacts.com. I tried to track down the person responsible. Unfortunately for me, Tom used private domain registration, hosted it on a different server in a different state from his regular sites, and used a proxy service to leave a comment on my blog. I was unable to track down who made it, but Tom later confessed and allowed me to help him with some pseudo-randomization PHP code. (Try looking up facts for multiple names)

Read on and see what facts you can dig up about your friends!
 

Blog / Author: Sunny Thaper
Company: Forty Media
Post Title: Radiohead’s In Rainbows Dumb Business Move?

Sunny starts off this post with: “Fortune Magazine claims that Radiohead’s latest album “In Rainbows” is the 58th dumbest moment in business.”

I agree with Sunny on the fact that Fortune is absolutely, positively, confoundedly incorrect. I might not go so far as to say it was the 58th smartest moment in business, but there would be a strong argument in their favor. What I can say is that it was one of the most consequential business moves in the music industry. A band sells their album online, makes it available for free, and proves that such a model can yield massive monetary success. It provides more evidence of the music industry’s obsolete business model.

Read on to see Sunny’s side and the links he provided.
 

Blog: DontTrustThisGuy.com
Author: Jim Jeffers
Company: Sitewire
Post Title: Advocates vs. Practitioners vs. Practicality

Jim brings up a good point about advocates and practitioners. With the success stories of Internet startups piling up, everyone is pushing the next big thing. Major companies are inventing new platforms to develop on left and right (Look at Google: OpenSocial, Android, Gadgets [Desktop, iGoogle, web], Google Gears, APIs for: Maps, Search, Feeds, Charts, Checkout, Calendar, Picasa, YouTube, etc). There are countless startups pushing everything from a new take on social networking (Facebook/MySpace-killers), communication (Twitter/Jaiku-killers), search (Google-killers), etc.

Read on to see Jim’s point of view.
 

Blog: Arizona Coffee
Author: Chris Tingom
Company: Tornado Design
Post Title: Boost Sales: Have a Starbucks Next Door?

Chris asks: “Could it be that having a Starbucks near independent coffeehouses actually helps boost sales?”

He provides a link to a great article from Slate Magazine that looks into the effect Starbucks has on independently-owned coffee shops. Much to Starbucks’ dismay (they intend to run competitors out of business), the presence of a Starbucks actually helps sales soar at competitors’ shops.

Read on at Slate Magazine.