Friday has arrived and I am totally going to tell you about some stuff that is going on. First up, TweakToday. Fellow Barbarian Bill Lindmeier (yep, the same Bill Lindmeier that sullied my whiteboard with penis sketches) has launched a site that asks people to “do a new thing… every day.” (Keep in mind the site is still very much in Beta so expect to see some UI issues worked out over the next few weeks).
These ‘new things’ are submitted and voted on by users (probably shouldn’t call them ‘Tweakers’ unless the mission of the day is to do a ton of meth). Here is a quick run down of the first three days of TweakToday.
• Photograph everything that’s in your bag or purse.
Image courtesy of soundofdesign.
• Make some origami and share a photo of your creation.
Image courtesy of icyfrance.
• Draw a picture of a baby animal and share it.
Image courtesy of ryantomorrow.
Based on the submissions so far, we are in for an interesting month. I am intrigued by the concept of this site. Though not a unique idea (there are some Flickr groups that ask people to complete daily missions), I am amused by the variety of mission types. Whereas the Flickr missions will inevitably be photo assignments, the ones on TweakToday range from writing haiku’s to donating money to a charity. Of course there are a fair share of completely ridiculous mission suggestions (”lay face-down on the sidewalk until someone asks if you are okay”) but lucky for us, that mission has a ranking of minus 6 so I don’t think we will ever be asked to do it. Sorry Nicole. 
Today’s mission is a bit more difficult than the others and asks that you prepare (or just order) a new ethnic food that you have never before tried. Good thing my office is right next to Chinatown.
Here are some mission ideas I hope get voted up high enough to be added to the queue.
• Tweet that you are pooping, while you are pooping, and post any replies you get.
• Use the phrase “perverse and often baffling” in a serious work email.
• Stack stuff on your pet (cat, dog, bunny, boyfriend, or girlfriend).
• Ride a transit line from end to end. Photograph the start and end points and tell us about your journey.
I am definitely looking forward to seeing how this site grows over the coming months.
And now I present you with a screenshot of an attempt to have a conversation using Emoji characters only. I add this because of recent developments.
Me: Im coming over.
Lance: What shall we do for dinner?
Me: How about delivery indian tonight, and tomorrow I will cook us something.
Lance: Alien blood transfusions are illegal for ghosts but beach chickens win.
It seems Apple is going to disable emoji accessibility for all people not in Japan. I don’t quite get why, but as Rick has pointed out on the Barbarian Group blog, go get the Typing Genius app now before it is too late.
Speaking of the Barbarian Group, we have had some awesome news happenings in the last month. Firstly, Creativity Magazine named us the Digital Company of the Year. Sweet! We were also listed in their roundup for the 2009 Creativity 50.
Slightly more surreal is our inclusion in the Fast Company 50 which is a listing (by Fast Company Magazine, of course) of “the world’s most innovative companies”. We came in at #29 beating out such well established companies as Ubisoft, Toyota, Weta Digital, Microsoft and Genzyme. Oh and Lego. We beat them too.
All in all, an awesome start to the year. Way to go, Barbarian Group!