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My latest for iCrossing

I’ve been talking about this lady for a couple of years now… and here she is seeping into my work life as well. Take a gander at my latest blog for iCrossing. 

My latest for Divanee… 

Well Done Emily Morris. Smithies like you, make me proud.

Dear Ms. Spurzem,

Thank you. Your letter to the Sophian jolted me out of Smith’s dreamy bubble of acceptance, diversity and community. After four years I was beginning to think this was the status quo. Your letter reminds me that the Smith environment is so enriching precisely because it…

A hot racist mess masquerading as a Smith College alum who as the President of her local Smith College Club, INTERVIEWS POTENTIAL STUDENTS, had the sheer gall of whining to the college paper about how her alma mater isn’t white enough.

There are some PHENOMENAL responses to her ridunculous letter including one by a Lola W:

Dear Anne Spurzem,

In the Sophia Smith Archives, one can find a letter written to President Neilson by a well-heeled society woman and Smith alumna. In it she complained about the rising number of Jewish women who were being admitted to Smith in part because they were all so unattractive and all looked exactly the same. 

President Neilson, in his infinite wisdom replied (to paraphrase): I’m sorry that your Smith education failed you so terribly.

I am not the President of Smith, but to you, my fellow alumna, I offer you a similar sentiment.

That said, I was totally reminded of a character from this Oscar-nominated film:

To read the lovely letter by Sparky McSpurzem, check it out here. While there, be sure to read the eloquent responses by some of Smith’s finest, not to mention those below:

smithiescomplaints:

Anne Spurzem, class of 1984, majored in economics, attended the MacDuffie School for Girls. She attended Duke University after Smith, where she got her MBA in marketing, before moving to Greenwich, Connecticut, the 2006 American city with the highest median income, where I am sure there are no…

thecontentlab:

I guess it feels like poetic justice. After years of compelling me to share my private life with the world, Facebook – the company that made the notion of “private lives” feel cute and antiquated – is going public, too.

Presumably, we won’t find pictures of Mark Zuckerberg with his mom…

Awesome infographic from Clearspring.

Please support a budding filmmaker & one of my besties: Sophia Savage: Watch the video preview of EMPYREAN & please donate! Thank you :)

My latest for @Divanee

This Google Wallet phenomenon is pretty amazing. Though with the starbucks card app kind of leading the way, the concept of using your phone in lieu of pulling out your wallet, is not a new one. Still, this concept is most likely the next step in the adventures of our ever-evolving smartphones. 

My quick take? 

The Good = The obvious. Convenient, easy, and almost always on hand. 

After the recent earthquake in DC, a friend of mine tweeted, “Dear Self - in the future, please also grab your purse along with the phone. The phone is not the most important thing #dcearthquake”

This concept of leaving one for the other might become more common as our phones become more and more ubiquitous in our daily lives. 

The Bad = Lost and stolen phones. Family and friends of mine have had their phones stolen from right out of their purses and off their tables. The resale value of smartphones is pretty darn high and if you don’t know to look for a clean ESN number, you could be buying a stolen phone (I’ve bought a few of my recent phones on Ebay and had to deal with the aforementioned issue a few years ago. Lesson learned.) Still, if your phone isn’t stolen, it could be misplaced. (Say on the subway in San Francisco?… Ah friend, you know who you are.) But seriously, the concept of phones disappearing is not novel, and in fact, could increase with this kind of attractive technology baiting thieves and scam-artists.

The Ugly = Pretty much to continue on with the above ‘bad’ comment - we will effectively have so much information on our smartphones, that it could prove dangerous. How many of you have accidentally left your Facebook page open, only to find your friends have left some interesting comments as your status updates? Or how about, finding out your email inbox has been hacked? Finally, how about finding out that your credit card has been used by someone other than yourself and so you had to shut it down to stop said person from buying more using your credit?

All of these are definite possibilities with this new future for our smartphones - indeed the ugliest of options. 

Still, as often happens, convenience trumps possible inconveniences. And obviously more strict safety measures will have to be put in place once these things roll out and become more mainstream. 

In the meantime, check out this Mashable article review and Google’s own video on the topic.

What do you think? Good, bad, or ugly?

To me, this essentially sounds like a case of the former kings of the playground ganging up on the nerd with the coolest toys.

Google’s Rivals Team Up on Ads

Can Google’s rivals team up to take a chunk out of its ad business? Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL are planning to work together to sell ads on each other’s sites, according to The Wall Street Journal. The companies would basically create a single ad platform across the sites, which would simplify the work of advertisers who generally have to negotiate the three company’s separate systems. (Each site will continue selling ads individually as well.) The deal, if it is made, is likely to face regulatory scrutiny.

Read it at The Wall Street Journal

What do you think?

Think you’ve read all the ‘work-workout’ articles that matter? Well this one has VIDEOS. 

This link offers some fantabulous workout suggestions for those of us sitting behind desks and staring at computers for an inordinate number of hours in a day. 

Awesome.