I Know What You Did Last Errand
Here are some of the things that stores — physical, street-side stores — might know about you from your recent visit to them:
• your age
• your gender
• your mood as you travel through the store
• how long you spend in each section of the store
• which items you spend time looking at during your visit
• how long you looked at an item before purchasing it
• which of the store’s products you previously looked up on the store’s website
• your purchase history with the store
• the number of times you recently visited the store
• the average time elapsed between your visits to the storeRead more. [Image: Shutterstock/Kzenon]
This subway library has posters of books and scannable barcodes—zap ‘em with your phone to get a 10-page preview while you ride!
A cool project proposed by a group of Miami Ad School students. Commuters who scan a book’s title not only can read the first ten pages of that book, but can learn, via near-field communication (NFC) technology, which nearby library has the book. Read more about the idea on Design Taxi here.
Gotta say, this is a leading contender for bookshelf of the week.
![newsweek:
Tweets from kids trying to use Wikipedia for their homework—and failing. SOPA!
[h/t gangster curator Katie Notopoulos]
Wikipedia’s SOPA protest message here.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55a74557e4b0b80ded0421f1/1437979130791-XT5IWEV67S8JMV6989P9/image-asset.png)
Tweets from kids trying to use Wikipedia for their homework—and failing. SOPA!
Wikipedia’s SOPA protest message here.
New York Philharmonic Halted by iPhone During Mahler’s Ninth Symphony – WSJ.com
The final movement of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is a slow rumination on mortality, with quiet sections played by strings alone.
During the New York Philharmonic’s performance Tuesday night, it was interrupted by an iPhone.
The jarring ringtone—the device’s “Marimba” sound, which simulates the mallet instrument—intruded in the middle of the movement, emanating from the first row at Avery Fisher Hall.
When the phone wasn’t immediately hushed, audience members shook their heads. It continued to chime, and music director Alan Gilbert turned his head sharply to the left, signaling his displeasure.
Minutes passed. Each time the orchestra reached a quiet section, the phone could be heard above the hushed, reverent notes.
Finally, Mr. Gilbert could take no more: He stopped the orchestra.
A Philharmonic spokeswoman said Wednesday the music director has never before halted a performance because of a cellphone or any other type of disruption.
As the offending noise continued in a loop, Mr. Gilbert turned in its direction and pointedly asked that the phone be turned off. The audience let out a collective gasp.
The ringtone—believed to be an alarm—played on.
The audience wasn’t pleased. A Wall Street Journal reporter seated in the 19th row heard jeers hurled from the balconies. One man screamed: “Enough!” Another yelled: “Throw him out!” The audience clapped and hollered in agreement—and still the tone continued to sound amid the din.
Read the rest: New York Philharmonic Halted by iPhone During Mahler’s Ninth Symphony – WSJ.com
Apparently none of Lincoln Center’s ushers heard anything unusual – the sound of the phone, the music stopping, or the in-hall commotion – to then kindly escort the patron out of the hall. Had I been an audience member sitting near a door during the phone-chiming episode, I think I would have left the hall to find an usher in the lobby and ask that he/she take action!
“The average US consumer is never more than 3 feet away from their phone. The average smart phone user checks their phone 40 times a day.”
Grammar-based CAPTCHAs. Yes, please.
Via murketing:
“Arne tried to comment on the Breaking Bad post and was presented with a bunch of ridiculously indecipherable Captchas. Here are just a few of the ones he was challenged with.” More: A gallery of indecipherable Captchas – Boing Boing