Nice music service to discover new music - Hitlantis

I really like what these guys have made. It's place for new bands to share their music and let people to boost them if they're worth it. The playback function is quite nice. It jumps from band to band either with selected genre or within all genres.




Not sure how they are doing, is anyone really buying any stuff from there, but at least it's fresh and different. And works very well in my browser. Only thing I would appreciate is browser extension, so that I wouldn't need to always open that tab to change songs.

Give it a shot: hitlantis.com

Written by +Henri Hämäläinen

Games are changing the way we behave

Interesting Ted talk about game dynamics being the thing for this decade. Seth Priebatsch: The game layer on top of the world:



I've seen this happening for some time already, so it's not really a new thing. 2002-2004 I used to play Hattrick for a long time and it totally changed my week schedules. There was something specific for each day, but main days where Wednesday as practice/cup match and Saturdays for league matches. That's what Seth is really talking about, how games change people.

Update: They totally nailed it. Consumer promises in tes..

Now they came back to me, only couple of hours after working time in Germany had started. They said to be really sorry about what had happened, and promised to send new one right away. Then they asked me to sort out how much it would pay to send package from Finland to Germany and tell them.

Wanderer: Consumer promises in test, faulty product delivere...: "I am quite heavy user of webshops. I've ordered lot of different kind of stuff from all over the world. Now for the first I really got my fi..."

That's just beautiful service. I'll update you if this changes, but so far, really exceeded my expectations. Thanks Smoothy!! (http://smoothy-beanbag.com/)

Consumer promises in test, faulty product delivered

I am quite heavy user of webshops. I've ordered lot of different kind of stuff from all over the world. Now for the first I really got my first faulty product.

I ordered from Smoothy (from Germany) about month ago bean bag for kids and it was so excellent, I decided to order another one. It came yesterday and it's surface had couple of big scratches and bag was about half as full as the previous one.

I'm not upset yet, I understand that mistakes happen, but now it's the time this company is really valued. They have in their website these promises on quality and money back guarantee and other customer focused grap. Let's now see how they really walk the talk.

This is the point I'm either gona start promoting or dismissing them. I really loved the first bean bag, so hope that they serve me well.

Finally some explanation to me who I am as wanderer

From http://www.llresearch.org/wanderer.aspx

"What is a wanderer? Some wanderers are ETs who have come from elsewhere to planet Earth for this incarnation or at this time. Many other wanderers are earth natives who have matured spiritually to the point of awakening to their metaphysical identity, thereby making the worldly identity less real, and creating the sense of being a stranger in a strange land." 

...

"If you feel you are a wanderer, an alien, an outsider to planet Earth, or if you feel Earth is no longer your native land simply because you have awakened from the planetary dream, L/L Research has three things to tell you (click on each link for more information):

1. You are loved.
2. You are not alone.
3. You have service to perform for planet Earth.

Thanks for listening! Hang in there, and don’t let the wanderer’s blues get you down for long! The service of a lightworker is sometimes a difficult service to offer, as it requires our being incarnate on planet Earth, but it is well worth the sacrifice. Cast your deep mind back, and recapture that feeling you had before incarnation when all was so much clearer. All of us wanderers were eager to come and serve. This is our moment to do so, this brief time of living and being part of Earth. May we serve together with beauty, style, grace and joy."

This explains why I sometimes feel like an outsider :)

How's that for marketing - You've been selected to 50 person focus group

Couple days ago I got a call from my cable TV operator Elisa. I've has some fights with them in last couple months. Now they had selected me for a special 50 person focus group to try out their new services.

That sound nice, finally something good from them for a change, I thougth. Women in the phone started to explain that you'll get about 30 channels free for 2 months.. and then you only have to pay for 6 months !!

I almost lost words. 50 person focus group my ass.. It was just really really pathetic marketing. They gave first good impression, but then came out with horrible offer. I can't even think of any ways to do it worse.

I think this the worst marketing I've ever faced. Total waste of my and the callers time.

Book I read: Rework (by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson)

These guys in 37 signals have really made up something special. They have succeeded with many different products, books and many other. Now they are revealing bits of their working style and mindset with this book.

Style of the book is a bit arrogant. I guess that's the purpose since it brings many contradictory thoughts compared to main stream ways of doing business. They're message is to quit the bullshit and concentrate on things that makes you and your customers happy. They're message is that good user experience is the way to beat your opponents.

They also see growing too fast as a danger for complicating things and not as mandatory action for businesses to survive. They're hiring policy is really cautious. Their advice is to hire in the last possible moment, when all of your are just too damn busy to make something which is absolutely necessary.

I advice to read it to get you thinking. There's some things I didn't agree right away, but that's quite normal. Still I really enjoyed reading it. It's compact, full of good thoughts and some good examples. It gives the finger to many believes in current business making and working habits.

Written by +Henri Hämäläinen