WEEKLY REVIEW  |  December 2, 2016

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TECH

Google Home users get creative.

Curious about what a home assistant can do? Well, if you’re tech-savvy, the options are limitless. With assistance from a Raspberry Pi, a Global Cache relay controller, and the ever helpful IFTTT, Google Home can even turn on your fireplace. “OK Google, warm me up” has a nice ring to it.

Ride sharing = data sharing?

Or at least data collection. The latest app update comes with location tracking. And this doesn’t mean just your pick-up and drop-off, but your routine. Think of your favorite coffee shop, your go-to bar, and how often you go out of town. Read the article to learn why Uber thinks it’s necessary.

MARKETING

Patagonia donates $10 million, all from Black Friday sales.

Last week Patagonia announced that they’d donate 100% of Black Friday sales to charity — specifically grassroots environmental groups fighting to protect vital natural resources. What they didn’t know: they’d make five times the expected amount. Talk about brilliant PR!

Spotify uses data toward comedy.

Spotify’s newest outdoor campaign puts data to work…or rather, play. The humorous ads highlight users’ bizarre habits, like: “To the 1,235 guys who loved the ‘Girls’ Night’ playlist this year, we love you.” Great use of data-driven — and culture-driven — creative.

DESIGN

Your best work is behind the scenes.

Tanner Christensen, a product designer at Facebook, takes an introspective look at what goes into design versus what your audience ends up seeing. He says the time and energy and thinking that goes into your work is the best work — and what makes the end product better. +1 to that!

Tinkertoys for architects.

The newest set of Tinkertoys, Mola 2, does more than entertain: it works like real buildings. Based on structural principles, the magnetized springs, planes, and ball bearings can be assembled to visualize how structural forces will truly affect the design.

INFLUENCERS

Popular YouTuber turns in vlog for new app venture.

Last week, Casey Neistat announced his last vlog. Fans mourned, hypothesized why. And now we know: CNN bought his video app, Beme. This is interesting timing with the recent end of fellow video app Vine. But with Beme valued at $25 million, Neistat’s decision seems sound.

EVENTS

Impact Holiday Market.

Tuesday December 6, 2016
5:30pm-9:00pm

AND JUST FOR FUN

Sick of 2016? Time can take you back.

Time magazine will take you back — way back throughout history with their 100 photos project. View “the most influential images of all time,” selected by an international team of curators. Spoiler alert: there is war, there is love, there is Ellen Degeneres.


“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort”

Franklin D. Roosevelt