trends

A Game Of Chicken

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Well, OK, Chick-Fil-A is having some medieval-themed “Date Knight” event. This event encourages sons to take their mothers out to Chick-Fil-A. It appears to be something to encourage family bonding via a kind of knights-and-damsels themed event.

OK, so look I’m not going to bring up Chick-Fil-A’s anti-gay issues, though I can criticize that. I could critique their food, but let’s face it they never claimed to be healthy. Date Knight isn’t a half-bad core idea, encouraging some fun family connections.

Except, as noted in this rant at i09 it’s incredibly creepy.

In fact one of the creepiest things about it is also a prime example of why you need Geeks On Staff to evaluate your cultural impact and choices. You need people who dig deep into culture-focused, technology-enabled culture.  You need people aware of far-flung memes and trends.

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Why The Next Anime Adaptions May Not Be Obvious – Or Exist

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I’m starting to loose track of the amount of adaptions-of-anime going on in Japan.

Yamato?  Check.

Gatchaman?  Coming up.

Captain Harlock?  Enjoy a badass trailer.

Patlabor?  Coming.

I would like to make an interesting speculation.

You know how now and then I talk about live action anime adaptions here and elsewhere? About how Hollywood may someday adapt things?  What it means for our careers?

What if we should ask not about American adaptions, but any adaptions?

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What I Learned From Dinklage

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Sadly, this column is NOT about me and Peter Dinklage on a road trip where we learn valuable life lessons.  OK, that would probably be pretty cool (“He’s a Project Manager!  He is constructing a house entirely out of Emmys!  They’re on a trip to wackiness!”), but no, Dinklage is my phone.

I got a Droid Razr Max HD, and since it’s small and powerful and gorgeous,  I nicknamed it Dinklage for obvious reasons.

The phone has taught me some valuable lessons.  Without a road trip.  I share them because this phone is an example of buying a personal device based on what my friend Doug calls “Use Cases” – what we want to do and what we buy or make to address it.  In turn there’s a lot of lessons for technology and those of us who use it and work in it.

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