I’ve always hated buying glasses. It’s hard. I never know what shapes or styles I should be looking for. And on top of all that, they are expensive. Buy glasses is a two-’fer; it’s difficult and expensive.

A few weeks ago, I shattered my glasses while traveling (bummer, i know). I started shopping the marketing for options for my new pair of glasses. Then I remembered hearing about an online designer glasses startup company called Warby Parker. These guys got a ton of tech-blog press earlier in the year- and their business model is impressive. I even heard one of their founders Neil Blumenthal speak at “Big Omaha”. They even carry a Toms Shoes-like promise: “Buy A Pair, Give A Pair” <– which I think is really cool. The unique part of their business that will grab your attention, is every pair of glasses cost $95. Yeah, you read that right. This includes the frames -and- lenses. Now that’s cool huh? Oh and they have free shipping and returns for all orders.

It all sounded too good to be true at first...
…so I decided to look-them-up and test drive if they really were the real-deal.

Before you commit to dropping cash for glasses that you haven’t tried on (b/c you order them online), Warby Parker let’s you pick 5 frames that they ship to you (for free, and they all have clear lenses).

Here’s what it looked like when the box came in the mail:

Then, I decided …why not crowdsource my purchase? I figured- my friends likely know better than I do which glasses look best on me, so why not ask them? This is the part I struggle with a lot. Why not let my friends decide for me? So I took some photos- and posted them to Facebook. I asked people to vote by leaving a comment or a “Like”. And almost immediately, the feedback rolled in…

Option #1: (clearly was the favorite of the 5)

Style: “Thompson“

Option #2: (this one was the “super geek” pair …)

Style: “Huxley“

Option #3:

Style: “Wiloughby“

Option #4: (i like these, i called these the “hipster” pair)

Style: “Zagg“

Option #5: (these were good- i couldn’t tell if the brown is/was my style)

Style: “Langston“

…my profile page had nothing but Warby Parker “glasses try-on” photos across the top

Overall, I was really happy with my purchase. The ordering process was super easy- they called my doctor and took care of everything with my prescription verification. Check ‘em out- these guys are doing a lot of things right. www.warbyparker.com
–

PR pro Justin Goldsborough interviewed me on #52CommsMixup. I’m honored to be considered apart of his series. You can watch the interview and what I had to say over on Justin’s blog.

While I was flying over Iowa in a small plane (my friend Cory has one), I brought my point-n-shoot camera to take pictures. I noticed when I was pointing it at the propeller -then- holding down the “focus” button on my camera the propeller slowed down. Watch this video to see what happens. Do you know why it does this? It’s a really odd phenomenon. I wish I knew what was happening and how this worked. It’s kinda eerie. Tell me in the comments if you can help explain why this happens!

This is what wind turbines look like UP CLOSE! They’re HUGE!!! (if you can’t see the video below, click here to watch it)

Do you use Gmail? There are some hidden features in Gmail that you can turn-on that will save you hours of your life (if not days). I put together this instructional video blog to share with you my 5 favorite Gmail hacks and tips (click here if you can’t see the video below).

BTW, if you ever want to see all the keyboard shortcuts in Gmail, press: SHIFT + ?

A really profound quote from someone you might not expect. Conan O’Brien concluded with this statement during his Dartmouth college graduation speech:

“It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It’s not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can be a catalyst for profound re-invention.”

- Conan O’Brien

My friend Pat showed me this AWESOME app. Yeah, this is cool. So cool, I had to vblog it…

if you want to buy it, you can grab it in the App store for your Mac.

Last week the tech blogs were buzzing about a recent Columbia University study that concluded the Internet are changing the way our brains remember information. Essentially the study concluded that people are less likely to remember details/things, *if* they know they can look it up later, when they need it. So does this mean computers are flattening our intelligence?

Is Google is replacing our memory?

One could quickly conclude that the Internet is making us stupid because no one has to remember anything. Google is our professor. Even the Lord Chief Justice has gone on record saying web-savvy people make bad jurors because they can’t listen. I believe Google and the Internet aren’t replacing our memory or our intelligence; it just shifted us to think differently. And this is best explained by a concept explained by Harvard researchers (1985), called transactive memory. This is the notion that we rely on our family, friends and co-workers as well as reference material (like Google and the Internet) to store information for us. And when you think about it, the advent of the internet and the mobile web “free our minds” from having to store information.

Smartphones have changed your memory

The “always-online” Internet in our hands (smartphones), is the catalyst to the change for how we remember things. But it is not making us stupid. Because you are able to access the Internet almost anywhere, everywhere, at any time- the information itself (what you know in your head) may be less valuable then remembering how to access information or data in the future.

Now, more than ever- there is value and equity to knowing how to use tools to retrieve data. Understanding how to “search” when you need information. How do you “Google” things properly? It’s like the days of your elementary school librarian, who was invaluable because of their knowledge of the card catalog system. Librarians didn’t actually know the information- or answers to your questions, they just knew how to get you books that had what you need.

The advent of the Internet, Google, and smartphones have impacted human memory. Should we be teaching kids in school how to use Google? I think we should. I can remember taking tests and classes on the card catalog system. Isn’t that the modern day equivalent?

What do you think? Do you think the Internet has made us stupid?

–

Discovered today that Sam’s Club is incredibly Heely friendly. And it’s awesome!!! I video blogged it, just so I could show you

There’s something to be said about the trend over the recent years about the usage of infographics. Recently, I was doing research for one of my a big brand/ corporate clients on infographics …and stumbled upon this “Twitterize Yourself!” infographic tool. I plugged in my girlfriend’s Twitter handle vs. my own (@rm) and found out some interesting data. I also compared it to our Klout scores. The results were interesting…

As you can see, my girlfriend is way better at using Twitter than I am!

My friends Scott and Sara were on our way back from an incredible 4th of July weekend, and we just happened to drive through the bubbling metropolis of Dyersville, Iowa! We passed signs for the “Field of Dreams” <– as in the ACTUAL baseball field from the movie!!! So we stopped and checked it out. It was exactly as I pictured it to be. So authentic. So incredible. And in the middle of nowhere. I filmed this video blog when we were there.

KCTV5 asked me to come on to their afternoon show with Carol Long to talk about the Facebook Video Calling and Group Chat announcements. During the interview, I shared my thoughts on how people can use the new features and a couple things to consider.

This past 4th of July, I was in Guttenberg, Iowa (this awesome island) with friends. They introduced me to a tasty clever snack called a “walking taco”. I’d never heard of it before! My friend Cory showed me how to make a walking taco and eat it. Perfect for tailgates!