Dr. TXT

This year, 39% of doctors said they'd communicated with patients online, up from just 16% five years earlier, according to health-information firm Manhattan Research, a unit of Decision Resources Inc.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Be More

It great to see a familiar face in Communication Arts. Hucklebuck Design Studio is featured in Fresh this month. http://www.commarts.com/fresh/hucklebuck-design-studio.html

Hucklebuck will even send you badges if you ask nicely.

Creatively Speaking

Creativity Magazine is a print publication that I still read religiously because it has an interesting mix of voices talking about the creative industry. I particularly enjoy this expert from David Nobay's POV article:

"SUITS 1: CREATIVES 0

Admittedly, you'd have to be profoundly medicated to ignore the general state of the world's finances right now — but, well, we're creative people aren't we? Surely, we are precisely in the business of thinking our way out of excruciating tight corners? Faced with a life of potentially nothing, isn't it up to us to create something? Not a fictitious valuation, or a shady shelf company, but rather something tangible.. Something of worth. Christ, perhaps, even something of great beauty?

Rather than talk ourselves into a dark hole, what if we viewed the current shitstorm as a catalyst to a new, governing class system? Not the Working Class, the Upper Class, or even the Emerging-Technology Class. THE CREATIVE CLASS (That's right; us). More specifically; a class diametrically opposed to The Uncreative, Intangible, Unimaginative Class that has shaped society and fucked up our ideas for far too long."

He also goes onto say that "There are too many of us, crammed into an ever-decreasing space." It's a breath of fresh air to hear someone speak so frankly.

There's some other antidotes that I wanted to capture before my issue gets lost or I throw too many things on top of it and forget.

• The most important thing I have learned about leadership is to jump off a cliff and build your wings on the way down.

- Tony Davidson of Widen + Kennedy London

• Because it's (the internet) is the most populated universal modern environment, and it's where the newest languages and rules of communication are evolving and being created from scratch.

- Andrew Keller from Crispin Porter + Bogusky

• We learned with "Truth" that we could affect social change. And so we applied that to MINI with the thought that we could change culture to embrace a product rather and change a product to mirror culture.

- Andrew Keller from CP + B

• Almost everything I know I learned from Kiss and the Catholic Church.

- Andrew Keller from CP + B

• The biggest challenge right now is not the economy, it's relevancy.

- Linus Karlsson & Paul Malmstrom of Mother NY

For more info on Creativity go to: creativity-online.com

Harrington College of Design

I had the opportunity to speak at The Harrington College of Design last night and share some of my experiences in the creative industry. It was great to interact with students and see the world through their eyes for a couple of hours. 

Serious Play

Paula Scher's talk at TED sets the groundwork for developing innovative design solutions through serious play (and being completely unqualified).

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

Eric Gradman of Monkeys and Robots has has integrated social networking data with an environmental installation to create an uncomfortable (but interesting) bit of social awkwardness. It's a perfect platform for a social event or convention to spark a conversation. 

Thanks to Greg Dosmann of Stinson Brand Innovation for passing this along. 

The Walking Dude

A friend recently referenced this classic (Chicago) viral video. I couldn't resist posting it because it's so irrelevant and brilliant at the same time. I don't remember the first time I viewed this but it had to of been around 1999 or 2000 and I laughed for days or maybe even weeks. If you lived or work in Chicago's River North you will understand.

Twitters Expanding Universe

A great visualization of tools that connect to the Twitter platform. You can read more about Brian's views on social networking at www.briansolis.com.

Green Garbage

A great idea from BigBelly Solar. Philadelphia has installed several of these on their city streets. Below is the press release from BigBelly. 

BigBelly is the world's only solar-powered cordless compaction system. It uses the sun's energy to automatically compact trash at the point of disposal, dramatically increasing capacity by 5 times within the same footprint as ordinary receptacles. Increased capacity reduces collection trips and can cut related fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by 80%. The enclosed design keeps pests out and litter in. Safe and easy to use, the BigBelly has proven successful in urban streets, parks, colleges, arenas - and in all weather conditions.

The Google Workflow

Um, everything just got 100 times more better. Pardon my poor grammar. Google will fix it in their next release. Watch the video below and you'll get a preview of how Google is developing tools to enhance the way we work.