Sweden Takes Web 2.0 Way Too Far

February 12, 2007 in Personal by Ray | No comments

sweden.jpgJust the other day, I was discussing web 2.0 and the transition to web-based TV in the future with a few friends (in fact I only have basic cable, AKA 12 channels, everything I watch mainly comes from the web, thanks to BitTorrent & YouTube). Then I saw this article on NeoWin:

Sweden opens diplomatic relations with Second Life

All I can say is, WHAT? The country of Sweden has set up an official Embassy in the virtual world of Second Life! This was not the kind of cyber-revolution I was expecting, at least not yet.

And yes, for those of you who asked, I tried out the popular K2 Theme, and now I’m back with Tarski.

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[Marketing] 2006 Global Brand Rankings

January 30, 2007 in Professional by Ray | 2 comments

brands

I’ve always had a keen interest in marketing, thanks to Dr. Lutz and his great marketing class at University of Florida (in fact he’s a favorite professor of BusinessWeek and featured in the article Not the Usual Drill). I’ve recently stumbled accross brandchannel.com, an independent weekly magazine for branding produced by Interbrand. They just published their online study of the top global brands in 2006, and the results are quite interesting. Here are the top 5:

  1. Google
  2. Apple
  3. YouTube (!)
  4. Wikipedia (!!!)
  5. Starbucks

Surprising isn’t it? Jump to see more details and thoughts.

Read the rest of this entry »

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1st Post on WordPress 2.1

January 26, 2007 in Personal, Technology and the Web by Ray | 1 comment

OK so WordPress 2.1 is finally out and I’ve upgraded, together with Tarski theme 1.22. New features are great, but most importantly, the front end feels much more responsive and Admin Panel is even faster!

As promised, I’ll make a new theme but that may take a bit. Permalinks also seems to be broken. I also need to change my permalink structure to www.RayShan.com’s root. Please bare with me for a few days while I roll out the improvements. .

More Data Visualization Goodness from IBM

January 23, 2007 in Technology and the Web by Ray | No comments

I’m usually not a huge fan of Java (AJAX is a different story), but rather a huge fan of Flash. However Many Eyes, the new pilot site by the Big Blue is amazing. Anything that promotes statistics or data usage gets my vote.
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Also check out Swivel, my new recent favorite web 2.0 data explorer.

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Brix @ JAX Beach

January 21, 2007 in Personal by Ray | No comments

So I’ve been to Brix at Jacksonville Beach (map) twice now. Each time were drastically different experiences, but both were lots of fun. We were there a few Sundays ago; it was upscale, laid back and they had a band playing Jack Johnson stuff. Last night (Saturday) was pretty crazy. The bar was jam-packed and I kept seeing familiar faces in the crowd. Music choice was more up beat (read: rap) and the atmosphere was more energetic. I enjoy their large selection of beers, including Delirium Tremens on tap, the voted “Best Beer in the World” at the 1998 World Beer Championships. Finally a new hangout spot in JAX!

See also: review of Brix, review of other bars, pubs, breweries & stores in JAX

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