Twitter Blocks
I am fascinated by the concept of visualizing social media in a way that makes the interaction more interesting. Twitter Blocks takes this idea and applies it to my favorite form of social media… I can’t wait to see it develop as a stronger trend.

Vintage Ads
The golden age of advertising: when nothing said Marlboro better than a cute little baby.

Strange Maps
Rand McNalley has nothing on some of these Masterpieces.

Stripe Generator
Takes all the work and only some of the creativity out of a Web 2.0 cliché. A good tool to have in the tool-box.

Rhetoric and Poetics in Design
Dude…. this is deep. Brings me back to my days sitting in Seminar in Aesthetics at JMU.

Web Designer Wall
Kick-ass. I wish i had a bed comforter that looked like this background. Impressed by this guy’s Ninja Word-Press Skillz.

Scher Makes up with Helvetica?
What Paula was actually thinking when she picked Helvetica, we may never really know.

Nestlé Chocolate Museum
Chocolate and sexy design, enough to make a girl giddy.

Logan
The studio responsible for a lot of the early Current.tv graphics. They have done some stunning work since. You may recognize it.

Pandora Poster Contest
Super fresh poster contest entries

After sharing a Digg article titled “Internet addiction more serious than OCD” a few of my colleagues joked that this article described my behavior. I would not say my addiction is as much to the internet as it is to user-generated content. I don’t mean the videos of sons hitting their fathers in the crotch with wiffle-ball bats that you find on youTube… I am addicted to relevant, informative, fresh user-generated content anywhere I can find it. I HAVE to have it. Which is why I recently called my cable provider and insisted they funnel Current.tv to my new apartment.

On the coat-tales of a lively BarcampDC discussion Justin Thorp tagged me to drop my commentary on my favorite online TV shows. Hence my proclamation of adoration for current.tv. My favorite online shows aren’t shows at all, they are “pods” and they can be watched on Alexandria Channel 107 as well as online.

Current.tv is truly interactive in the sense that you can vote, submit and comment on the video online and a percentage of that content surfaces to the cable network programming. One of my favorite aspects of this station/ website is that the viewers create 30 % of the on -air television content, and a percentage of the sponsored advertisements. Segments are called “pods” which vary in subject-matter but are much shorter than the traditional “episode”. The pods are on shuffle, similar to that of an ipod, so the viewer has a fresh lineup any day of the week. You can submit your own “pod” and with the incentive of current.tv fame and monetary compensation.

Why I love up so hard on Current.tv:

Format:
Pods are short and sweet, none of that “coming up in a few minutes” bullshit that eats up more time than the actual content. If you don’t like what is happening during this pod, another will be featured shortly.
Check out: Thank You

Interactivity:
If something is aired that peaks my interest I can find more information online to continue my journey in learning.
Check out: Bustin’ Boards

Variety:
User generated content draws from a much larger pool of interest, exposing me to topics I never thought I would learn about or even be exposed to.
Check out: Baptism by Razor

Sincerity:
Pods are often a labor of love. Those creating them are passionate about capturing genuine points of view on subject matters that mean something to them. This level of devotion to a finished piece is refreshing.
Check out: Turning on Haiti

Perspective:
Again, drawing from a thick stew of user generated content allows for perspectives that don’t often get featured on the NBC nightly news. Current.tv sponsored journalist are often encouraged to reach out and cover stories neglected by the mass media.
Check out: Syria 101

Relevancy:
A station with their fingers on the pulse of the internet surfaces content that matters when it matters. current.tvoften features stories that have strong roots on the web but get overlooked by mainstream media
Check out: Three Days in North Korea

Volume:
As I said earlier, I am addicted to information, and this station has more than its fair share. You can turn it on any time of day and learn something fantastic. While you may get a few repeats from time to time, the short, shuffle format.
Check out: InfoMania

[tags]current.tv, infomania, user-generated content, user-generated television, internet video, future of television[/tags]

While in the User Experience discussion my ongoing experience with my ex VW Beetle came up. Is the overall brand experience a part of the user experience?

So this bridges the discussion at BarCampDC with a book I am reading (Interaction Design by Dan Saffer) with a convo I had with Cindy about her Beetle at BarcampDC…

Dan Saffer on emotional design:

“What would the Volkswagen Beetle be without whimsy?”

My answer: a piece of shit car.

While talking with Cindy at Barcamp she confessed that if her car died (knock on wood) she would be at odds to what new car to consider. I faced this same problem when mine died… forced myself to listen to logic and just bought the first Honda I test drove. If its not a beetle, it doesn’t really matter what kind of car it is as long as it doesn’t fall apart.

I cried that day.

The overwhelmingly positive emotional response a Beetle owner has can actually outweigh the negative fact that the car physically is a turd. A Beetle can have the windows fall out, the locks pop out of the door, the dashboard peel off and the owner still longs to buy another.

Every morning since the loss of my Beetle I walk out of my apartment and am disappointed not to see my car smiling back at me. Emotional design can be a heavy contributor to User Experience.

[tags]barcamp, barcampdc, barcampwashingtondc, Volkswagen, New Beetle, VW Beetle, User Experience, Emotional design[/tags]