Robi Ganguly’s Big Ideas

• “Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.” -Henry Fielding #quotes #
• “Men must be honest w/ themselves before they can be honest w/ others. A man who is not honest w/ himself presents a hopeless case”-Boetcker #
• This is why I bought $nflx years ago. Bye bye blockbuster. http://twitpic.com/faoql #
• Excited for tonight’s Bat For Lashes show at Neumo’s. Great band, small venue. Excellent. ♫ http://blip.fm/~cctln #
• Sometimes, in life, you know exactly what you want to do and then you go do the exact opposite. That was me tonight. #
• SF folks: headed to Outside Lands this weekend? Let me know. I’m in town for it. Would love to meet up & catch up. #
• The thing about being positive is that it’s not just about moving forward. Sometimes I forget this. #
• I bet the vendors in seatac’s A concourse have missed seeing me sprint to the gate. #
• My sister’s new kitten is absolutely adorable http://twitpic.com/fj14j #
• Bart Bart Bart #
• Absolutely phenomenal day in SF today. Just in time for #outsidelands This is going to be a fantastic weekend. #
• Plotting a burning man 2010 trip. #
• “Soulmates in fun”. #
• Real time isn’t real time when people aren’t consuming your info real time. #
• Fernet with a Ginger back. As it should be. http://twitpic.com/fmrxh #
• I wish there was a concert stat for %of audience dancing at the close. Q-tip’s at ~80%. Awesome. #
• Hello Thievery Corporation. Your recordings don’t do you justice. #outsidelands #
• Arguing technology with the Cronkeys. Perfect. #
• Exactly right: Facebook isn’t for everyone and more people are waking up to that every day. http://bit.ly/19bfzZ #
• Day two of #outsidelands begins with my second Bat for Lashes show of the week. F’ing sweet. #
• The Dave Mathews vs Will.I.am dance off was pretty freaking hilarious. #outsidelands #
• Heading out for a Crissy fields run with my old running partner. Great start to Sunday. #
• I think the daft punk guys showed up to see Bat For Lashes http://twitpic.com/frwg6 #
• Kicking day 3 of #outsidelands off by seeing Atmosphere live for the first time with my sister. Surreal. Awesome. #
• Latfh.com really should have a photographer in the crowd for this Modest Mouse show. #
• The M.I.A stage show is clearly not designed for sobriety. The redhead dancer kills. #
• Dear Band of Horses: please tour more on the west coast. F’ing amazing. #
• Proof that “The Beatles: Rock Band” is going to introduce a new generation to Beatles music. http://twitpic.com/fyazk #

Popularity: 4% [?]

• “Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.” -Henry Fielding #quotes #
• “Men must be honest w/ themselves before they can be honest w/ others. A man who is not honest w/ himself presents a hopeless case”-Boetcker #
• This is why I bought $nflx years ago. Bye bye blockbuster. http://twitpic.com/faoql #
• Excited for tonight’s Bat For Lashes show at Neumo’s. Great band, small venue. Excellent. ♫ http://blip.fm/~cctln #
• Sometimes, in life, you know exactly what you want to do and then you go do the exact opposite. That was me tonight. #
• SF folks: headed to Outside Lands this weekend? Let me know. I’m in town for it. Would love to meet up & catch up. #
• The thing about being positive is that it’s not just about moving forward. Sometimes I forget this. #
• I bet the vendors in seatac’s A concourse have missed seeing me sprint to the gate. #
• My sister’s new kitten is absolutely adorable http://twitpic.com/fj14j #
• Bart Bart Bart #
• Absolutely phenomenal day in SF today. Just in time for #outsidelands This is going to be a fantastic weekend. #
• Plotting a burning man 2010 trip. #
• “Soulmates in fun”. #
• Real time isn’t real time when people aren’t consuming your info real time. #
• Fernet with a Ginger back. As it should be. http://twitpic.com/fmrxh #
• I wish there was a concert stat for %of audience dancing at the close. Q-tip’s at ~80%. Awesome. #
• Hello Thievery Corporation. Your recordings don’t do you justice. #outsidelands #
• Arguing technology with the Cronkeys. Perfect. #
• Exactly right: Facebook isn’t for everyone and more people are waking up to that every day. http://bit.ly/19bfzZ #
• Day two of #outsidelands begins with my second Bat for Lashes show of the week. F’ing sweet. #
• The Dave Mathews vs Will.I.am dance off was pretty freaking hilarious. #outsidelands #
• Heading out for a Crissy fields run with my old running partner. Great start to Sunday. #
• I think the daft punk guys showed up to see Bat For Lashes http://twitpic.com/frwg6 #
• Kicking day 3 of #outsidelands off by seeing Atmosphere live for the first time with my sister. Surreal. Awesome. #
• Latfh.com really should have a photographer in the crowd for this Modest Mouse show. #
• The M.I.A stage show is clearly not designed for sobriety. The redhead dancer kills. #
• Dear Band of Horses: please tour more on the west coast. F’ing amazing. #
• Proof that “The Beatles: Rock Band” is going to introduce a new generation to Beatles music. http://twitpic.com/fyazk #

Popularity: 4% [?]

• Picking my little sis up at seatac. Very excited for our week together. #
• My excitement for the forthcoming football season is tempered by the knowledge that I’ll have to hear about Brett Favre way too much. #
• Interesting article: Stress begets stress & trains your brain to fall further, faster, into unhealthy patterns: http://awe.sm/19t6 #
• San Francisco opens its data and the rest of the nation’s mayors once again swear at Gavin Newsom for being “first”: http://tcrn.ch/7CnT #
• Hot cocoa and good conversation: a great combination. #
• 5 days went by fast. Dropping off my sister at seatac and more than a little bummed out. #
• It’s 5:30 on Friday. I need some motivation to go kick my ass & pound the pavement. Oh, there it is: ♫ http://blip.fm/~c3loc #
• Turns out that the run from my place to Greenlake and back is pretty straightforward. I love adding awesome running routes to the mix. #
• I’ve really gotten the hang of this waking up on Saturday a.m. and working thing. It’s fantastic. Oh, I did that in high school too? Whoops. #
• The PBR golf classic begins with mimosas in red cups http://twitpic.com/evq4p #
• The golf course marshals are clearly jealous that we’re drinking pbrs. #

Popularity: 4% [?]

• RT @hnshah: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill #
• Taking a break from a productive Monday for 90 minutes of yoga. Will probably ensure that the 2nd half is more productive than the 1st. #
• I love the sound of the whistling tea kettle when making my morning pot of coffee. #
• So let’s review: the Chevy Volt might get 230 mpg, but it’s going to cost $40k? Good thing they’re planning a small production. #
• I’m sure I’m not the only person who works in Excel while listening to Trance music..am I? ♫ http://blip.fm/~bj2d6 #
• Perfect Seattle day: Cozy, rainy morning made for a productive a.m. Mtg w/ a great team in the p.m., reading & then a clear night run. #
• The soundtrack to my life is often, “go go go”. I need a different one tonight as I watch the Perseid meteors. Suggestions? #
• Excellent piece on product design: Practice Product Minimalism. http://bit.ly/rjFEP [via @iankennedy] #
• You have to be disciplined about BEING disciplined. It doesn’t just happen. #
• Dear Eagles: thanks for picking up Vick and ensuring that you are yet again your own worst enemies. The NFC’s still up for grabs in 2009! #
• Not the version I was looking for, but still, great track from Afro Celt Sound System. Happy Friday. ♫ http://blip.fm/~bpb9o #
• An evening spent doing work, cleaning the place and watching “The Wire”. Perfect. Oh, it’s Friday? Whatever. #
• It almost feels like cheating to get up and go for the early morning Saturday run. #
• Reason #1 why #hempfest is worth checking out: almost NO ed hardy tshirts. #
• I believe in the healing power of a long run in the sun. #
• Important reading: Human beings, dopamine, seeking, satisfaction and technology: http://www.slate.com/id/2224932/pagenum/all #

Popularity: 4% [?]

• Forbes’ story on the “Funniest U.S. Ads” really messed up its presentation. So I went & fixed it: http://awe.sm/x96 #
• RT @boucher: 90% of apps on the app store have < 2 stars. That is an incredible statistic. Pretty embarrassing. #
• RT @birdfeedapp Excited to learn that our app icon is featured in several new Apple TV ads! http://tumblr.com/xw62knd1b #
• The little meme that could: http://happybirthdayobama.com/ #
• I wish I could do with my voice what Bono does with his in this song. Timeless: ♫ http://blip.fm/~b5f0b #
• I’m following @happybdayobama today to see all the Birthday wishes. Fun stream. #
• RT @pantlessknights: NEW VIDEO: “Shake Weight Spoof – ROD QUAKE 3000″. http://bit.ly/uK6Dd [F'ing brilliant spoof] #
• I enjoy challenges and find great rewards in working hard. #
• Can’t get this song out of my head: ♫ http://blip.fm/~b9pvg #
• The Hieroglyphics station on Last.Fm has been a perfect choice for this productive Friday morning. Chair dancing while writing. Good times. #
• Running with a smile on your face is infinitely superior to the alternatives. #
• Ken Griffey Jr. Bobblehead night at safeco field. Impressive crowd, even more impressive mullets. #
• There is NOTHING like the walk off home run in the bottom of the 11th. #
• There’s definitely something odd about drinking PBR out of a bottle. #
• Sweet, text Tweets are apparently just now streaming through. This is entertaining. #
• RT @johnmaeda: Criticism is most difficult to receive from those we truly love. But honesty is the best fertilizer for personal growth. #

Popularity: 4% [?]

So, I look at my Twitter stream this morning and along comes an interesting link about the “Funniest U.S. ads”. I click through and find myself reading this article on Forbes.com: Laugh Track: Funniest U.S. TV Commercials

2 minutes in I’m sold: “sure, great, where are the videos??”, I ask myself. Turns out it’s a whole complicated set of steps you have to take to see them.

Morons. Here, I’ve done what they should have:

Out of 37 videos, here are the highlights:

Ikea’s Save the Lamp: the panel’s favorite

Levi’s Tainted Love – another popular one:

An ad from 1981, for FedEx, featuring the world’s fastest talker

(anyone remember the Guinness Book of World Records?)

Outpost.com’s “audacious act”. I can’t help laughing every time I see this:

EDS’s epic “CatHerders” commercial. Effective in its seriousness:

And two Ferret favorites, to wrap it up:

Budweiser’s take:

and Verizon’s:

See, Forbes, was that so hard? I bet if you’d done that, you’d have 10 times the video views you’re getting out of that article right now.

Fix it. Or just link to mine .

Popularity: 7% [?]

• I’m absolutely shocked that http://research.microsoft.com has been down for over a week. WTF is going on in Redmond?? #
• What’s so bad about Contador’s comments on Armstrong?He just acknowledged the tension & says he’s not a fan. Big deal. Get over it. #
• Today’s going to be so hot I’m already plotting my migration to the Library in order to get work done. But first, a 7 mile run. #
• Nike+ is a great idea with great device integration, connected to an absolute shit website. One of the worst ever. #
• This $MSFT/$YHOO deal reminds me of a poker phrase: “If you don’t know who the sucker at the table is, it’s you [$YHOO].” #
• There must be 400+ people here at the Seattle Central Public Library. Awesome place to beat the heat #seascorcher #
• ReTweeting @ninjaclectic: “There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man’s lack of faith in his true Self.” -William James #
• RT @jeffarena: Amen, brother! – RT @nytimesbits: Behind Microsoft-Yahoo: The Online Economics of Scale http://bit.ly/tjL5E #
• RT @iancr: today I asked @chamillionaire if he liked @alyankovic. not only did he like it, he met Al and said he isn’t Weird at all. #
• As usual, Paul Graham eloquently sums it up. The difference btwn a Maker’s Schedule & a Manager’s Schedule: http://awe.sm/uap #
• I just loaded a page in Chrome, running in Windows 7, in a Virtual Machine on my Mac, faster than in Safari, natively. By a lot. WTF??? #
• Why am I not surprised? $YHOO web hosting and registration is buggier than GoDaddy by a mile. What a pain in the ass. #
• My $SBUX baristas saw my Mute Math t-shirt, began chatting about their upcoming show & then discussed African coffee beans. #ilovethistown #
• Dear Ticketmaster: how the F do you think you can charge me $13.50 in fees on a $22 ticket? You’re out of your minds. #
• Sleepness nights call for good books. #
• “Effective executives do not race. They set an easy pace but keep going steadily.” -Peter Drucker #quotes #
• There’s really no other place to be than on the lake during Seafair: http://twitpic.com/cg4zc #
• OH: “you are the beer beneath my wings” #
• Seafair Sunday has all of the same anticipation, grogginess and excitement of Bay to Breakers. Plus a lot of sunscreen. #
• Dear Seafair: this might get serious. Next year’s going to be absurd. #

Popularity: 5% [?]