More random things I really think you should go read:

• The Internet Is Still Ridiculously Small: Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry brings some sanity to the scope of internet commerce compared to brick and mortar.
• Eleven Digital Trends to Watch in 2011: Steve Rubel and David Armano roll out the crystal ball to help forecast what’s ahead for 2011. Overall I agree with their picks.
• Motivate me!: How are you doing with your resolutions/goals? Need some help getting motivated already? David Li has you covered with a feel good melange of motivational and inspirational YouTube mixes. Really nice curation format, too!
• How the recession has changed us: Nice data visualization of the impact the recession has had by sector. Sobering look at how far we have to climb out of that hole.

Happy Wednesday!

Absolutely random things I really think you should go read:

• The Blog in 2011: More Pictures, More Words: Joanne McNeil ruminates further on how blogs are morphing into homes for long form essay style posts with images incorporated into the text. Since I’m fond of blogging only when I have something worth adding to the conversation, this resonated.
• Finally, A Majority of Executives Embrace Experimentation: When even staid Harvard Business School calls experimentation necessary, you’d think there’d be lots of discussion about how and what to experiment with in top blogs. Hopefully I can type fast enough to drown out the sound of chirping crickets.
• Junto: The Junto was a club established in 1727 by Benjamin Franklin for mutual improvement in Philadelphia. Also known as the Leather Apron Club, its purpose was to debate questions of morals, politics, and natural philosophy, and to exchange knowledge of business affairs. Have I ever mentioned I’d love to have lunch or dinner with Ben Franklin? Fascinating fellow.
• World of Tweets: Nice online data visualization of Twitter posts across the world. Executed in html5 no less this is pretty impressive work. Guaranteed to mesmerize the longer you leave it running.

Happy Tuesday!

Great big year end link dump – some great reads here that deserve more discussion, but jump in and see for yourself:

• Images and the future of reading: If a picture is worth a thousand words, how should they be incorporated into new printed works?
• The Joy of Stats: Hans Rosling is back with a rollicking review of the impact of statistics and how numbers help us to better understand our world. Highly recommend even for those folks who think they don’t like math…
• Destruction of the Paris Metro: Rolling stock, foreign graffiti and echoes of the past – what isn’t to love about this in-depth tour of abandoned metro tunnels?
• Spending on Branded Content Remains Robust: More data on the value consumers find in branded content, and why the rise of digital information is accellerating the value of printed content.
• Inside the Battle to Define Mental Illness: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (universally known as the DSM-IV) is as important to psychiatrists as the Constitution is to the US government or the Bible is to Christians. Now, it’s critics charge it with medicalizing managable illnesses and leading to over prescription of millions of Americans.
• From the Pentagon to the private sector: Big, well researched investigative story by Bryan Bender for the Boston Globe on the revolving door between private industry and the Pentagon.

Happy New Year!

So yeah, not really back yet, but how about some great links to things I really want to talk about sometime?

• Fickle, fickle data: Snake oil sales and vapor ware surround “big data” development.
• Experiment in Public: Data mining IS always dirty, so I like that he specifies that you should highlight the most interesting things you know (or learn) about the data you are mining. Good discussion of why agile beats waterfall for data development.
• Flipboard: Shiny, shiny! Oh, for an iPad!
• Needlebase: More data (smashing and mashing it up, this time) and yes, I do have data on the brain, why do you ask?
• Why Gawker is moving beyond the blog: Nick Denton pens a strategy primer for new sites.
• Profounder: From the founder of Kiva.org, Profounder gives entrepreneurs the tools and support to raise money. The platform supports both accredited and non-accredited (friends and family) funding.

Back soon!

Some interesting reading I’ve been saving up for you:

• Who sells the most at market: Our complex relationship with manufacturing is part of the reason why U.S. manufacturing is in the decline. Is respect an issue?
• Where the Top VC Firms Are Investing: Top 2 industries are internet and healthcare. Interesting breakdown of what Internet technologies are being bankrolled.
• Inside the B Corp Revolution: The rise of the beneficial corporation could stem the tide of off-shoring jobs and skewed CEO compensation.
• Levi Strauss & Co opens a public print shop: Levi Strauss & Co. continues its search for authenticity by opening a temporary printing commons in San Francisco.

Some interesting reads from around the web:

• Prison without Walls: We spend $68.7 billion annually to keep 2.3 million Americans in jail – can technology reduce some of these costs?
• The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet: As we become more application centered (Facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds, iPods, iPads, Smartphones) are we killing off the open web? If so, what are the implications for technology growth and start-up businesses?
• Front Porch Forum: Bob Cringely drops in on a Burlington VT start-up that aims to connect neighbors and does. Nice bootstrapping story.
• Where the Jobs Will Be: Which regions will recover first? Richard Florida runs the numbers and some of his answers might surprise you.
• 90th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment: Happy Anniversary! I’ve enjoyed the privilege of voting my entire life, so it’s strange to realize how long women like my grandmother and her sister’s fought for the right to vote.

I’m battling writer’s block and letting other distractions keep me from an essay, so how about checking out these shiny new toys instead?

• Booshaka: Find out what is popular on Facebook right now. Good for trend research and competitive information.
• Peer Index: Find authorities on a variety of subjects. Still in early launch mode, this bears watching.
• Bakodo: This looks like a great QR app for the iphone.

Ah, I thought so.

Interesting reads from around the web:

• The Future of Startup Funding : Paul Graham talks about the rise of super angels and the changing venture capital terrain for new businesses. I see this as a good thing for start-ups as long as the gender imbalance is rectified.
• Industrial America on Architectural Stationery: Before the $99 logo, gorgeous architecture graced bills of lading, invoices and letterhead. As our focus has turned from manufacturing, we’ve lost a piece of history and place.
• Ode to the Taco Truck: as haute cuisine begins to take mobile food seriously, are we losing some of the immigrant energy and flavor?
• Short history of print in two pictures: Print has changed significantly since Gutenberg, and while letterpress specialists would feel at home on one of these machines, I wonder how they’d feel about the new 8 color Heidelburgs? While printing may have changed radically since the 1500’s, it isn’t dead yet.
• Is There a Female Funding Model?: Stacey Higginbotham spotlights the inequal spread of venture monies available to women. I suspect bootstrapping/debt funding is more comfortable for women, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be working to increase these numbers to a more equitable spread. Note, too, that diverse teams raise bigger rounds.
• Newt Gingrich: The Indispensable Republican: Interesting bio on Gingrich, who appears to be ramping up for a presidential run in 2012.