creativity isn't what it used to be

a box? seriously? this idea was already patented by the millions of people who have moved residences and lacking a proper table & chairs, sat on boxes full of their books & shirts. the only ounce of ingenuity offered by these netherlanders is charging unreal amounts of euro-dollars to wax hipsterati/look like i'm always packed to move. fortunately, for those exterior entertainers, these boxes (which aren't actually boxes) can be coated for outdoor use (which means they're entirely covered in packing tape).

thanks geekologie

are sponsor blogs legit?

so asks scott karp as he considers sponsor advertising for his own blog. i answer with an emphatic yes.

scott presents the two major formats: advertiser-created and blogger created, and leans toward the former as the only viable possibility.

and they are miles ahead of any sort of keyword-targeted advertising google might come up with. as a reader, i'm not interested in keywords; i'm interested in topics & articles. to be honest, i'm not even against adverts all that much as long as i'm not forced to pay attention. as i'm j-rattling through my google reader and i find an interesting post (sponsor or otherwise) i'm likely to check it out further. if i'm not interested, then so what? i wouldn't have been interested regardless of where the advertising was.

and you have to agree with him that "commercial-free content is an unrealistic expectation for any publisher/reader relationship" and breakfast, lunch & dinner have to come from somewhere.