Getting Gamers off the Couch: Red Robot Tests Location-Based Gaming

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via allthingsd.com

Over the past year, Red Robot Labs has discovered one major limitation in making games based on the real world: Laziness.

“Gamers are lazy,” said Pete Hawley, Red Robot Labs’ co-founder and chief product officer. “You can’t expect them to get off the couch.”

A year ago, the Mountain View, Calif., company attended the Penny Arcade Expo (a.k.a. PAX) in Seattle to launch its first game, Life is Crime. That weekend, three Red Robot employees hustled to make the convention a virtual game board, getting attendees to virtually commit more than 20,000 “crimes,” in addition to hospitalizing more than 1,000 people and stealing $35 million from real places.

It’s More Important to Be Kind than Clever - Business Article

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via blogs.hbr.org

One of the more heart-warming stories to zoom around the Internet lately involves a young man, his dying grandmother, and a bowl of clam chowder from Panera Bread. It’s a little story that offers big lessons about service, brands, and the human side of business — a story that underscores why efficiency should never come at the expense of humanity.

4 Secrets to Pitching Your Product

via openforum.com

Your products are finally off the production line and ready to sell to retailers. But where do you begin? Or maybe your brand is successful in regional retailers but you can’t seem to get your foot into big box retailers. The truth is, it’s not enough to have an amazing product. You also need to have a solid business plan to present to retail buyers.

6 Steps to Getting More Stuff Done

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via inc.com

Let’s face it: despite all of the positives associated with today’s rapidly changing business environment, technology can also cause distractions and put a strain on our productivity. You answer 10 emails only to have 20 more in your inbox. You are expected to be available 24/7. You have to schedule conference calls with people across the globe. You are tempted to text and email during meetings. You can’t stay off of Twitter during the workday.

Whatever your personal distractions may be, following these six simple steps should help you to increase personal productivity and job performance.

Are You a Right-Brained or Left-Brained Designer?

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via designshack.net

Colors, pictures, creativity; designers are quite obviously a group of people that tend to gravitate towards using the right sides of their brains… right? Or is this simply a stereotype that doesn’t necessarily ring true?

Is design exclusively artistic talent put to productive use or is it possible that the industry is equally full of analytical problem solvers? Let’s take a look at how designers think, whether you’re a right brainer or a left brainer, and how I’ve struggled through being a left brainer in an industry of right brainers.

How Twitter Uses Open Source

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via techcrunch.com

Twitter’s Chris Aniszcyk gave a keynote address this morning at CloudOpen and talked about how Twitter uses open source.

His talk provided insights into how open source technology can also be used in an enterprise environment for scaling infrastructure. That’s an emerging topic of interest in the enterprise world.

Aniszcyk reviewed the open source technologies Twitter depends on to manage its service…

Were You Born A Designer?

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via webexpedition18.com

In my exploration of others’ designs, I’ve often wondered whether my favorite works are a result of a designer’s acquired knowledge of the craft or a natural gift; whether some just “have it” and some don’t, or everyone has the potential to learn how to design.

In my research, I’ve come up short in finding sources that strictly refute my personal opinion: designing is a talent a person is born with that must be further cultivated through education.

Being A Designer Without A Design Degree

via desizntech.info

Is it necessary to pay for four years of education in order to make a living as a designer? While some may argue yes, ultimately, employers and clients are more concerned with your talent and passion than a formal education. For example, online colleges resource eCollegeFinder recently published an article on the issue of talent vs. training in design, in which a hiring creative director commented, “A portfolio of great work from a potential employee speaks louder than any design degree can.”