Note: This is the first in a series of posts that explore trends at the intersection of human behavior and technology that might emerge over the next three years from the convergence of other, established trends.
The Macrotrend:
The normalization of social behaviors on the web, in combination with the ability to centralize human networks via [...]

A handful of related thoughts, leading to a larger one:
Last week, my new favorite television show, Hung, ended its initial season run on HBO. On a lark, I posted to Facebook and Twitter for recommendations for a new series into which to sink my teeth. 24 hours and a few hundred suggestions later, a handful [...]

Some related thoughts, disparately organized:
The inimitable Dave Coustan (@extraface on Twitter) has been up here in Boston from Atlanta working with us for the last few days. Among the many things I have learned about Dave in that time:

Dave has a soft spot for really good Pinot
Dave likes push messaging for his regular FourSquare updates
Dave [...]

I’ve grown fond of Yelp lately, albeit more for entertainment purposes than any real utility. I derive no little pleasure from the social communities’ noticeable divide – unabashed fandom and fawning on one side, a strong proletarian streak on the other.
Most entertaining are the not-infrequent scathing customer reviews of America’s 5-star restaurants – a particularly [...]

There are some really intriguing underpinnings of an infrastructure meme at the moment, which I’ll attempt to coalesce around some ongoing social media trends. Please bear with me:
Deepak Kumar, a consultant with the ICFAI Journal of Infrastructure, outlines the distinctions between ‘hard infrastructure’ and ’soft infrastructure’ in these terms1:
(The) infrastructure sector is divided into hard [...]

Heavyset loyalists know that I’m a fan of Kevin Rothermel’s blog. A few days back, Kevin posted what he termed a ‘rant’, but is, in this reader’s opinion, is quite the opposite. In response to some of the wholesale generalities bandied about by a handful of unabashed social media mavens, Kevin writes:
Interesting doesn’t go away [...]

Today, I’ve settled on a third (and one hopes) final design for Heavyset, now using a modified version the Typebased Wordpress theme.
I arrived here by way of both the Thematic and Freemium themes, giving up on the latter because of its relatively narrow display space and heavy page weight.
This figures to be the final design [...]

Another in a series of good posts from Becca over at CultureSnack, this time on the news that the Brooklyn Museum has found a means by which to monetize Twitter:
…the Brooklyn Museum has figured out a way to monetize its social networking efforts without going the expected route of selling ad space. For $20, people [...]

Inspired by a handful of others who have posted personal aspirations for the New Year, a list of my own1:
1. To strike up unexpected conversation. I’ve no qualms about the simple fact that I’ve never had occasion to meet most of those with whom I interact on Twitter, and yet it would never occur to [...]