Contours of the Earth

The design at Hampton Inn, which I assume was meant to be reassuring comes off as borderline rude. As soon as you walk in you’re hit with constant greetings such as “hello.“, “relax.” and “thanks.”

It’s not the words, but the way they’re presented. Is this a typography, branding, or just overall design issue? I’d be interested to hear comments / reactions.

My favorite one: “clean your face.” – anyone else think this sounds aggressive, rather than inviting?

I decided to visit the Google China HQ in Beijing after they finally left, and the google.com started redirecting to google.com.hk. I’d seen pictures of flowers and notes on the sign like a tombstone, so I wanted to check it out. None of that was there, but it was still cool to visit. I don’ t think they will be abandoning the office in Beijing, and I have a feeling they won’t be gone too long.

Thinking about drinks, lets say there are three people sitting together. They’re all thirsty and drinking water.

The optimist is glad to see that there is some water left, then happy that his thirst is quenched for the moment. He’s confident that there will be more water to come.

The pessimist never thinks there’s enough water, or it’s not cold enough. But all he does is complains or sulks.

The entrepreneur is eyeing the lemons and sugar in the kitchen, getting ready to pour himself a glass of lemonade.

It’s not enough to accept the current condition of the drink as-is, having the entrepreneurial mindset is about gathering resources to make the current situation better. Maybe there’s no fruit in sight, but the entrepreneur will keep looking or find a way to make his own lemonade.

Speaking of drinks, I’m launching a new version of New Atlas Beverage Co., which will be all about the weird drinks of the world.

More than you would think.

Johnny Earle came in to speak at Babson last night to tell the story of how he started his t-shirt company, Johnny Cupcakes. It was an entertaining story, but he also had a lot of insights along the way on starting a business with no formal training and what worked for him.

I’m sure Johnny would deny that he shared traits with the Donald, but a few points jumped out to me as overlapping in their philosophies.

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