Monthly Archives: July 2007

How would you visit 171 Starbucks in one day?

Posted on July 31, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

It’s a sure sign that I’ve been spending a lot of time interviewing that when I saw the story about the guy who bought something at all 171 Starbucks in Manhattan in one day I turned it into an interview … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, recruiting, starbucks | Comments Off on How would you visit 171 Starbucks in one day?

Pepsi to clarify that Aquafina is tap water

Posted on July 30, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

PepsiCo is planning to clarify labels to tell consumers that its Aquafina water is actually bottled from public water supplies. According to the CNN story, the labels will be changed from “Bottled at the source P.W.S.” to “The Aquafina in … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising | Comments Off on Pepsi to clarify that Aquafina is tap water

Rocky’s fun-filled day at the airport

Posted on July 30, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Yesterday was my travel day from hell. I arrived at National Airport around 11 to catch a noon flight to Philadelphia. Because of a ground stop at Philadelphia they pushed back the flight to 12:45. We boarded the bus toward … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, customer service, facebook, travel | 2 Comments

Two products I’d never consider buying

Posted on July 28, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

The Post’s Rob Pegoraro has a story this week on two products I’ll never buy. One is the Samsung Jitterbug, a feature-free cellphone. The other is the HP Printing Mailbox. It connects to a regular telephone line and prints emails … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer electronics, product management, wireless | 5 Comments

Measuring the Facebook traffic tsunami

Posted on July 25, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Upstart traffic measurement company Quantcast has released some impressive data on the effect of the Facebook platform on audience growth. The company measured pre- and post-Facebook platform usage on three popular companies: Slide, HOTorNOT and RockYou. All three have seen … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, statistics | 1 Comment

e-Vic – Personalization that works

Posted on July 24, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve seen many tries at personalization in the last decade. Most don’t work very well. Among the best personalization systems are Netflix’s and Amazon’s recommendations engines. There’s another to add to the list, and it comes from an unlikely source: … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, personalization | 3 Comments

Debate 2.0 a resounding success

Posted on July 24, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Note: If you are reading this on the blog (instead of an RSS reader) you can roll over any of the links and watch the video right on this page. Last night’s CNN/YouTube debate was a triumph of public participation … Continue reading →

Posted in elections, journalism, media, YouTube | Comments Off on Debate 2.0 a resounding success

Crying babies and cell phones

Posted on July 23, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Among the top complaints among restaurant customers are screaming babies and cell phones. Now you can combine the two. My friend Jonathan mentioned that he wanted to capture the dulcet sounds of his five month old for posterity. I suggested … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, wireless, wireless data | Comments Off on Crying babies and cell phones

Carl Kasell is a fake… friend

Posted on July 22, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’m a fan of NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, a weekly news quiz hosted by Carl Kasell. The usually funny show features C- and D-list celebrities as well as audience callers answering questions about the week’s news. The prize … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, facebook, social networking | 2 Comments

Redefining news

Posted on July 21, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was at a party earlier this week with some journalists from The Washington Post and some recent journalism graduates. We started talking about Loudoun Extra, the Post’s new hyperlocal Web site focused on a wealthy suburban county. Among the … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, journalism, media, newspapers, social networking | Comments Off on Redefining news