Hulu ads — pick your poison
by Eli Altman
Recently I got tired of watching the same movies over and over on Netflix Instant or Flixter or whatever they’re calling it these days. I switched over to Hulu primarily because they get new content on a regular basis. So …
California — cool since 1510
by Jeffery Racheff
As far as state names go, California is the black sheep of America. Rather than some stale, obligatory honor to a founding father, a lazy attempt to replicate somewhere in England or a halfhearted remembrance of a decimated Indian nation, …
Glory Holes, and other terrible names to give your donut shop
by Jeffery Racheff
Bad names are everywhere. From the corner store to the corner office, people find themselves giving terrible names to the things they love, and no one seems to be able to stop them from doing it. Well, um, stop it. …
The world’s biggest naming myth
by Jeffery Racheff
Leaping from his bathtub, running naked down the streets of ancient Syracuse and screaming EUREKA!, Archimedes had a great idea. The Greek inventor, engineer and all-around bad-ass, bare-assed scientist had just discovered one of the most famous principles in science …
9 Hilarious Amazon Product Reviews
by Jeffery Racheff
Product reviews: They can be an endorsement of something extra special, or they can offer an entertaining way to rubberneck at the carnage along the highway of online shopping. The standard application of the product review is pretty self-evident. It’s …
Startups: If we only had a brand
by Danny Altman
When you’re out to change the world, things are happening fast. Between raising money, finding good people, building a product, and dodging bullets, there’s not a lot of time to think about branding. By the time you finish reading this, …
McDonald’s, McRibs and McIndigestion: Why we eat crap in a bun
by Jeffery Racheff
There are only a handful of American traditions that people will dare to truly question: Why should I have to pay taxes? Is everything really bigger in Texas? How can you be too old for American Idol? Yet the question …
Lost in translation — why having a pronounceable and spell-able name matters less than you think
by Brook Barman
Everyone wants the perfect name. They want it to be edgy, imaginative, and inimitable, but only so long as it’s also easy to spell, easy to say, and impossible to forget. The only trouble being, easy and evocative are natural enemies. And nothing is …
Tiny woman trapped in iPhone sues local man
by Jeffery Racheff
Attorneys representing a woman who lives in a local man’s iPhone 4S have filed a lawsuit against him, claiming he keeps her trapped in his smart phone, expects her to instantly know how to get to places she’s never heard …
I’ll bet you’re a marketing genius
by Danny Altman
Marketing is a good idea. Except for the way most of the world does it. Most marketing starts with the premise that people are total idiots so you need to pound stuff into their heads with a 2×4. They still …