Google says no to censorship

It's official. Google is done with China. At least their search function is. For the technical details of Google's decision to re-route traffic to Hong Kong, check out this article in the Christian Science Monitor.

A Wired Magazine article a few days ago noted that Google still has two research and development operations in China mostly related to the Android operating system. For now, those operations remain intact.

With this decision, Google re-affirms my belief in a corporation's ability to make decisions for the common good, while looking beyond immediate profit gains. It's no secret that China's collective "buying power" (if you will) is the largest in the world. The Christian Science Monitor article points out there are "400 million users -- the world's biggest web audience." That's a lot of eye balls on your banner ads.

It would have been really easy for Google to compromise it's unwritten (but well known) "do no evil" philosophy in the name of "market potential." But the culture of the internet, that which has allowed Google to flourish, is one of open sourcing and contributing to the good of the whole. It's not about control of information or limitations on freedom. It's about creating a world where information can be found, learned, understood and proliferated in order to spread knowledge and benefit everyone.

According to the article, David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer said:
“We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement."

The moment a powerful and hugely important multi-national corporation begins to back down on the fundamental principles that made it successful is the moment when not only the company begins to fail, but the community as a whole begins a dangerous downward trajectory. Because if Google had agreed to censor itself in China because the market was simply too big to be left alone, then there would be no limit to the control governments or other global actors would have on not only Google, but the internet as a whole.

We can all pretend like we are scared Google will one day take over the world because it will have accumulated so much knowledge about us throughout the course of your online lives that it will have no choice but to dominate the entire globe. But this decision has reassured me that success and power does not have to equal compromise and corruption in this globalized world. People and corporations do still stand behind their beliefs and that makes me more comfortable supporting them.

Sure, China still has to respond, and I'm sure the negotiations will continue and maybe some other compromise will be reached down the line, but for now, this is a big step.

Google maps' new biking features

The first time I rode my bike in Chicago I took a trip down the lakefront path from Rogers Park to Navy Pier. With the brisk lake air kissing my cheeks and my heart steadily beating to the tune of the gears, I had never been so happy to be outside and exercising at the same time.

I was happy until I almost hit a dog-walker, fumbled past a stroller, lost an impromptu race against an 8-year-old and argued with an angry pedestrian about who has the right-of-way on a one-way lane.

I was not happy anymore, but I was stuck on the path because I didn't know where else I could ride, since I hadn't been on a bike since MTV played music videos.

If only Google had developed itsbiking features on their maps software nine months ago.

The level of specificity on the new tool sounds incredible. Not only does it offer itineraries and travel times but it factors in levels of fatigue which is particularly helpful for a noob like me. So now I can avoid the mobs of ambling dog-walkers, energetic baby mamas, competitive children and pugnacious pedestrians without being scared I'm going to pass out from exhaustion in a dark alley somewhere between Rogers Park and Logan Square.

And it gets better. Not only does it point out the bike-friendly routes, but it has a features that show shops and restaurants along the way. Now not only is my mind at ease, but my stomach can quit worrying too. Because what's a bike trip without a slight detour to a local eatery to reward myself with an ice cream cone for working so hard?

Now that summer's almost here, you can find me riding through the streets without that scared look on my face -- you know, the one people get when they're lost and hungry.

"Why metrics are" "Predictably Irrational"

I began my evening reading an article on AdAge titled "Why metrics are killing creativity in advertising." Patrick Sarkissian explains that economic hard-times are forcing clients to put more emphasis on metrics, which in turn is forcing agencies to prove, in concrete and measurable terms, how an off-the-wall idea is absolutely going to make the client millions.

Well, Patrick argues that "you cannot truly quantify creativity" and reminds us that "brand preference is built on emotional connections." I get that this is coming from a creative, but it resonates with me. I also get that a corporate CEO is going to have an entirely different take on the idea. And that's completely fair and understandable. If it was my money, I'd be careful with it too.

But, then I hopped over to BoingBoing and saw the headline "Predictably Irrational: subjecting the 'rational consumer' hypothesis to scientific scrutiny." And this is why I love blogs.

As if hearing the wails from my torn heart after reading the AdAge article, Cory Doctorow's review of Dan Ariely's lovely little book whispers the possible answer to my question over where I fall in the creativity vs. metrics tug-of-war. He explains:

"Predictably Irrational presents a fatal blow to the idea that we can run a system on the assumption that people will take courses of action based on rational calculus, unclouded by cognitive blind-spots that make it practically impossible to find the best course of action."

He goes on to say that this is an accepted concept in the business world and the book ultimately challenges economic theory that "the whole system behaves in a rational, Newtonian fashion and can be treated as such." But what's interesting to me is that this theory of irrationality adds validity to Patrick's point that creativity can't, and shouldn't be, quantified because consumers can't be predicted. Numbers ultimately present a trend and an assumed course of action, but Ariely's book seems to prove that we shouldn't just stop at the numbers on our journey to the wonderful world of Oz where the deepest motivations of consumers lie hidden but waiting to be discovered. If people act irrationally no matter what, then why not keep on running down the yellow brick road and trust those quirky creatives and their seemingly outrageous campaigns?

thisMoment, right now

I was reading about Lionsgate and its promotion for its new movie Kick-Ass(which looks awesome in a feel-good kind of way, letting us all pretend like we have the power to take control of our lives and the world for at least two hours).

The AdAge article was talking about this new Web interface that conglomerates all social media platforms into one easy to navigate, and easy to monitor, Web page.

Ok, now that's kick ass.

A new start-up company out of Silicon Valley is responsible for the site, and apparently the whole trend. thisMoment has coined the term "Distributed Engagement Channel" where a brand can be managed in one place across many different [social] media channels.

This is revolutionary because now the user can go to one place for a complete social media directory AND the brand management team can go to one place to monitor these various channels. This is totally awesome because I always have at least twelve different tabs open in my Web browser, and I find myself easily getting lost and distracted amidst all the "clutter" on my social media sites. With this, I can go to one site and be lead exactly where I need to go on all my other sites.

thisMoment, seriously, thanks.

Now all we need are more companies to hop on this train.

(The image on this post is from their Web site, and I think it does a nice job of telling the whole story.)

Super absorbant?

This was too hilarious to pass up.



Thanks to BoingBoing for posting, and someone on Etsy for creating.

Nothing like a little levity to brighten up a dreary Monday night. And by the way, one of the models is already sold out. A little ingenuity goes a long way thanks to the internet.