Adam's posterous

Shimano kit converts regular bikes into e-bikes

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Shimano kit converts regular bikes into e-bikes

Much the way Sähköautot–Nyt — now known as eCars-Now — aims to facilitate the conversion of standard Toyota Corollas into electric vehicles, so Shimano has developed a kit to help convert traditional bicycles into electric ones.

The new STEPS (Shimano Total Electric Power System) component kit is designed to preserve the feeling of the traditional bike while adding the parts necessary for delivering electrical power. A 250W electric motor can take bikes up to 25km per hour, while a regenerative braking function focuses on recharging the 24V/4.0Ah lithium-ion battery, such as when riders travel downhill. The battery is removable for charging, requiring just an hour to juice up when empty, Shimano says; it can be recharged more than 3,000 times, or every day for roughly eight years. Electric switch buttons for riding mode, display mode and a light switch, meanwhile, are integrated into the 4-finger brake levers, and cables with slim 5mm plugs allow easy internal frame routing. A removable cycle computer, finally, offers a clear and quick overview of all e-bike functions, including riding mode, battery power, speed and odometer.

Pricing on the STEPS kit has not yet been announced, but it's expected to become available in December. Bike-minded retailers around the globe: one to offer eco-minded commuters near you...? (Related: Folding electric two-wheeler offers new take on urban cycling — Lightweight electric bike targets urban commuters.)

Website: cycle.shimano-eu.com

Contact: bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/contact_us.html

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

My Great Dane Gretel with her LOL cat

Last night Gretel fell asleep holding a LOL cat (I didn't put it there!) Or is it holding her...?

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5 tips for viral content

1. Create media for the Bored At Work Network: There are hundreds of millions of people around the world bored at work sitting in front of their computers connected to high speed networks.  This network is bigger than any traditional media network like CNN or ABC. Create something they will want to pass around.
2. Practice The Mullet Strategy: Business up front, party on the back.  If you have a Website, keep the front page serious so as not to scare off the casuals.  Give all the crazy commenters and contributors space in the back, and only show them to the rest of the world when they create something that catches on.
3. Try Big Seed Marketing: If you are  brand trying to create  a viral campaign, it might be hard. True viral memes are hard to reproduce.  It is much easier to make something that still gets passed around, but you might have to spend some money to seed it around the Internet.  The more seed you spread, the more chance it will grow. “Buy the seed, get the viral for free,” he says (this is basically BuzzFeed’s business model).
4. Target The Maniacs: The Web is ruled by maniacs, people who get worked up about things and push their ideas out.  ”Content is more viral if it helps people express their personality disorders,” notes Peretti.
5. Be A Mormon, Not A Jew. This one is tongue in cheek.  But Mormonism is a growing religion, whereas Judaism is stagnating in terms of population.  Why?  Mormons are better evangelists.  ”The problem with Jews is that they suck at marketing,” says Peretti.  ”It’s almost like they don’t want anyone else to be a Jew.” His point is that it is not just the quality of an idea that counts, it is how much effort you put into spreading it.

Why I like riding my bike (the 7 attributes of enjoyable experiences)

From "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - p49

"As our studies have suggested, the phenomenology of enjoyment has eight major components. When people reflect on how it feels when their experience is most positive, they mention at least one, and often all, of the following. First the experience usually occurs when we confront tasks we have a chance of completing. Second, we must be able to concentrate on what we are doing. Third and fourth, the concentration is usually possible because the task undertaken has clear goals and provides immediate feedback. Fifth, one acts with a deep but effortless involvement that removes from awareness the worries and frustrations of everyday life. Sixth, enjoyable experiences allow people to exercise a sense of control over their actions. Seventh, concern for the self disappears, yet paradoxically the sense of self emerges stronger after the flow experience is over. Finally, the sense of the duration of time is altered; hours pass by in minutes and minutes can stretch out to seem like hours. The combination of all these elements causes a sense of deep enjoyment that is so rewarding people feel that expending a great deal of energy is worthwhile simple to be able to feel it."

To summarize...

1. Chance of success
2. Able to concentrate
3. Clear goals
4. Immediate feedback
5. Deep and effortless escape (a pleasant distraction)
6. Sense of control
7. Time flies

Blekko slashtags sound interesting

Interesting mix of retro fiction and fan interaction. Ferris Bueller on Twitter

http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/07/ferris-bueller-twitter-foursquare/

The Levy flight - a good argument for building tools instead of content

From seth godin via Google Reader

The Levy flight

Clay Shirky taught me this very cool mathematical concept that shows up in nature, and now in marketing and social media.

An animal that forages will hang out in a small area, looking for nuts or berries, then will realize it has used up all the likely sources in this spot. It will then head off in a random direction, walk many paces, and start foraging again. When you plot the Levy flight, it looks like this:

Someone discovers your site. They poke and prod and join and return and return again. Then they feel as though there's no more benefit and they move on, surfing until they find another place to forage.

Someone finds your restaurant. They love it. They return with friends. They hang out and become regulars for a while. Then they get bored and start browsing again.

Adding the Levy flight to your understanding is a much more nuanced representation of consumer behavior than solely thinking about the ideas of brand loyalty or random web surfing.

How to shorten URLs in a Google Spreadsheet

You can use these formulas to create short bitly URLS in a Google spreadsheet. If your URL is in column A, use this formual in column B:

=IF(ISTEXT(A1),CONCATENATE("http://api.bit.ly/shorten?t=1&version=2.0.1&login=bitlyspreadsheets&apiKey=R_ec5820b9a63b11ef0adfda8f98810713&format=text&longUrl=", SUBSTITUTE(B1, "&", "%26")), 0)

This generates the bitly API URL (containing the command to shorten the URL). Then put this formula in column C:

=IF(ISTEXT(B1), IMPORTDATA(B1), 0)

This fetches the data from the API URL, in this case the shortened link.

@jasonp107 talking Twitter #140tc

The story behind SEOBook

via digitalbookworld.com

Interesting story of an SEO information business