Ah, yes, the Design 100 challenge. I haven’t touch this since last March I believe.

Failed miserably. This is an attempt to get back into the creative free flow of the tools at hand. thought I would go back and brush up on my PS and AI skills; rediscover what some of the filters and effects can achieve.

Yes. We met while back actually. First off, I want to say that I love your sexy new look. Look at you using the latest and great web tech, and blazing a path of your own. Mmmmm Mmm! Hot Damn! Okay, but that’s as far as the sexiness goes.

I miss the version that would clean & cook for me. You know the one. Wasn’t as flashy as you, but took care of my needs and knew how to get into my heart. Yup, you know that old adage—”only way to get into a man’s heart is through is stomach.”

I miss the way you served up heaping helpings of that good stuff. Now all you want to is be secretive and not share any of the tasty tidbits. What happened? I thought we a good thing going. C’mon gimmie that good stuff one more time.

Please baby, please baby, please baby, baby baby please!

What’s got me quoting old Spike Lee movies? DATA.

The NEW Twitter is great for people wanting to consume info & tweets that others post; displaying images and videos without having click a link at all. But if your business relies on knowing who’s watching your videos,  you are SOL right now.

When someone views an image or video from a service supported by twitter, those stats are not logged in most of the services they are coming from. I’m not sure that this was a calculated move by the talented folks at Twitter to shift towards monetization, but it sure looks like it. I’m surprised that a lot more people are not up in arms about this. Where are the social media experts?! I need your help! As Twitter Analytics rolls out I’m sure that they will address this issue. Why? Because Twitter Analytics is only for advertisers.

Yes, this is about Farmville. We’ll get to it later. This past week I was trapped in the house due to a freak winter storm that our State was not ready to handle. I was going stir crazy. Twitter was no fun; everyone was complaining about snow/ice. And I had run out fresh content on the intertubes.
So I decided to something wild and crazy. Play Farmville. If you know me you’re going, WTF?! But rest assured this was not for entertainment purposes alone. I wanted to see what attracted so many players to the game. What made Zynga more profitable than Facebook this year.
As I began playing, the game reminded me of Warcraft. No not WOW, but the original game. Very task based and directed at first and then it gave you the freedom to what ever you wanted within the game once you started leveling up.
Lest go over basic gameplay first. The soundtrack is a simple melodic tune that comes to life when you complete simple tasks. Think Vegas slot machines. The game lulls you into playing and cashing in to hear that sweet cha-ching sound. But you can only hear that sound so often with out neighbors. In order to level up, you must get neighbors, your facebook friends to play the game. Brilliant.
This creates a swarm of activity on your farm, that your resources (energy and cash) can’t keep up with. Zynga has masterfully partnered with other business to give you game cash if you sign up a particular service or product. Kind of like a squeeze page if you will.
I was wondering what happened to them on the net. Zynga cornered the market and moved it to Facebook. I don’t know if I should be happy that a lot of that gunk has been cleared from the tubes or upset that these practices still exist on a different level.

This is the year of the Farhan. The year of me. I am returning to my roots. I am returning to the things that ignite my passion. Music, art, & learning.

Let’s start with the fun stuff, music. Those of you that have been to a show with me know that someone/something else emerges. I get enthralled by the rhythm become one with the crowd. At that moment I transcend. I want to capture this energy and use it in other environments.

Art is one of them. Remember my design 100 challenge? Yeah… By going to more shows, I’ll fuel the fire for my art. This year, I’m starting a new.

Finally, I’m going to start learning again. I really haven’t brushed up on my physics or psych & that really irks me.

These past two years, I feel, have been stagnant for me. I have been resting on my laurels. No more. 2011 is the year of the Farhan. See you at the top.