Every stat you could want in less than 4 minutes

Learning to love Twitter

Still not convinced Twitter is useful? Feel like it is something strictly for the tech savy only? Check out this great article in today's New York Times which gives some very practical applications for the micro-blog service. Asking questions, getting real time news for a particular area and leveraging hashtags to see what is happening at specific events are just some of the ideas.

The 800 pound search engine

After my last post about how Google has totally screwed up their recent attempts at taking over social media it was nice to read Steven Levy's article "How Google's Algorithm Rules the Web" in this month's Wired. With all the attempts Google makes to branch out in different directions it is important to remember that their value proposition is still their ability to return relevant search results. The article is well worth reading as it gives both an interesting history as well as some "under the hood" insights of the ever changing logic that drives the worlds most successful search engine.

Google's anti-social network behavior

Google is sure having a tough time lately with it's recent product releases.

First they had to deal with the backlash against the Wave product as the overwhelming consensus from the public was confusion. Wave was supposed to be the new generation of online communication taking aspects from email, instant messaging and social media but in the end it seems Google missed the mark from a usability perspective.

Now the company is dealing with the public's privacy concerns over Google Buzz. The new social networking product which is competing with FaceBook was released as a component of Gmail without any "opt in" options and automatically considers anyone in the users address book as a "friend". Of course, the advantage of this approach to Google is the tool was automatically linking folks together and not requiring them to seek each other out over time (think FaceBook). But just because someone is in my address book does not mean I want them in my social network.

It looks like Google is at least smart enough to recognize their mistake and is already taking steps to correct the mistakes made with Buzz. They announced they will stop automatically linking you to the folks in your address book. Also, they will stop forcing Buzz in the Gmail menu but rather it will be an option users can turn on and off.

Back and busy as ever!

It has been a while since I last posted on LFW but I am committed to making a habit of it once again. The last two months have been spent surviving the holidays, working hard as usual and spending some well deserved time with the family.

One of the things I have been working on recently is the launch of my companies new brand, Reed Krakoff. The brand's website is a big part of the launch and will continue to evolve this year. The new luxury line which gets it's name from Coach's head of design will be making it's grand entrance this coming week during Fashion Week in New York. Check out the new site and be sure to check out video from the fashion show which will be posted Wednesday evening.

Good Sites for Holiday Deals

Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are out of the way the holiday shopping season is now in full swing. Here are some sites that can save you money:

1. Bing.com - Microsoft's new search engine is not only a formidable competitor to Google but it is also a great way to save some money when online shopping. Simply search Bing for the item your interested in and the results will show you what they found. As a part of those results any merchant who has partnered with Microsoft in the "Bing Cashback" program will display the gold coin icon under their listing. By clicking through this link, providing your email and making a purchase the Bing system will keep track of your running total and provide you with a rebate.
2. Twitter.com - Twitter can be a great way to get real time updates from your favorite retailers. This year more than ever brands like Toys R Us and Coach are leveraging social media to communicate with their customers.
3. Amazon.com - The largest online retailer is constantly updating it's deals. You can check out their deals page to see the latest.
4. CyberMonday.com - The Monday after Thanksgiving used to be the biggest online shopping day of the year. While that may no longer be the case any longer it is the unofficial start of the online deals. This site is a good resource because it aggregates all the deals happening for easy search by category, merchant. etc.
5. Sample Sale Sites - A new trend in ecommerce has been the online sample sale (check out TechCrunch's article in October about the trend) in which retailers offer their excess inventory at deep discounts. Sites like Gilt.com and  Hautelook.com require users to register and once they do they have access to fashion and lifestyle brand sales.

Morgan Stanley's look at the current and future of the web

Morgan Stanley recently presented their report on "Economy and Internet Trends" at the Web 2.0 conference. Lots of data included here with much of it financial in nature but starting with slide 29 the presentation gives an interesting outlook that is worth browsing.

Much of the content focuses on the mobile market with some truly amazing growth expected over the next five years. For instance, according to Cisco global mobile IP traffic is likely to grow by 66x in the next four years. Two other topics that gets plenty of focus are the effects of social media on behavior and the growth happening in Japan.