WEEKLY REVIEW  |  March 31, 2017

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TECH

Facebook adds a Town Hall feature.

Taking your political agenda to Facebook? Now, instead of just writing a post to your following, you can take action. Facebook’s new Town Hall feature allows users to contact their elected officials through the platform. Hint: bookmark this feature for that one relative’s future posts.

Another week, another project from Elon Musk.

Elon Musk has no shortage of projects (including the new movie Why Him? oddly enough). His newest is called Neuralink, and is focused on devices that can be implanted in our brains. Medically, it’s promising. Socially, it’s more than a little scary.

MARKETING

Toyota’s ‘Eco-Billboards’ Clean The Air Around Them.

Toyota’s new outdoor campaign doesn’t just claim the company’s cars reduce harmful emissions—the billboard itself does too. In Los Angeles and San Francisco, 37 Toyota billboards will reverse the equivalent of 5,285 vehicles worth of nitrogen dioxide emissions per month. This could really be categorized under tech, marketing, or design, which makes it a pretty darn good campaign in our opinions.

Waze adds order-ahead functionality.

Waze just added a feature that’ll let you place your favorite Dunkin’ Donuts order with one tap in the Waze app. Seem frivolous? In the future, maybe not. The Verge argues that this addition is in preparation for autonomous cars. They say, “if you look at the other features Google has added to Waze—Spotify controls, a carpooling service, parking spot data—it looks an awful lot like the command center of a semi or fully autonomous car.”

DESIGN

Could mouthphones be the next big thing?

Sure, headphones have become commonplace as a way to block out the sound of people around you. But why not apply the concept to your mouth so that others can’t hear your conversations? While this seems like an April Fools’ Day hoax, Hushme looks pretty real to us.

The scientific method for businesses.

This is a video worth watching while you work—or sprint. Google Ventures design partner Daniel Burka discusses how the design sprint is our industry’s equivalent to the scientific method. We do sprints here at Firewood, so hearing a leader’s perspective is all the more interesting.

INFLUENCERS

Internet trend does good.

Cat yoga has quickly become an Internet trend. You know, when your friends post videos practicing yoga and their cats get involved. The P.A.W.S. Animal Adoption Center in Camden, Maine, decided to take advantage of this trend and offers free monthly cat yoga classes with the goal of getting the cats adopted. Meow Parlour in New York City partnered with KittyKind to do the same. Good job, Internet (and of course the initiatives mentioned).

EVENTS

If you’re into sports, the A’s opening day is this Monday, but you can catch both Bay Area teams tonight at AT&T Park and Saturday at the Coliseum. If you’re looking for something a little more artsy, check out the Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason Saturday and Sunday. Or explore the natural beauty that our area has to offer at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, complete with free wild flower tours every Saturday now until August 26.

AND JUST FOR FUN

Watch this video for a smile.

Ever humanize inanimate objects? This little girl does too. In this adorable video, a little girl mistakes a water heater for a robot, complete with the smile-inducing phrase, “I wuv you wobot.” Please, just take a minute and witness this adorableness.

The most SF bar to ever happen.

Think San Francisco couldn’t get more techie? Think again. A new virtual reality arcade bar just popped up in SoMa this week. The pop-up will be available until April 27, so grab your fellow techies and head to this new place, and then another new place on the headsets provided.


“Spring is nature’s way of saying, 'Let’s party!'”

Robin Williams