Constrained Bliss Point

A few weeks ago I got involved in a fledgling research group in Boston. We’re doing research on the internets. But this isn’t just any lame internet research! No no. See, too many times you get people drawing conclusions about a social network like they know what’s what, but really they’re just making things up. “Well I use Facebook sometimes and I read some of my friends’ profiles so clearly I can pontificate about broad generalizations with no data to back up my claims.”

Friends, that isn’t science. Science is about testing hypotheses with empirical data. And who has the data? We have the data. Let me introduce the Web Ecology Project.  This project is, among other things, about basing qualitative analysis on firm quantitative footing. Check out our first report on the election in Iran to see some real Twitter research.

Already we’re getting some sweet press. It’s only going to get more awesome from here, folks. Stay tuned.

A few weeks ago I found myself lacking catsup. This put me in the awkward position of having to purchase some. Ketchup is the kind of thing you shouldn’t have to worry about buying; it should always just be there, ready to apply to your hot dogs or easy mac.

As luck would have it, I got my friend Rob to pick some up for me. And when I saw it, it blew my mind. Catsup has been solved. Bottles are now upside down, so you don’t have to shake it up or wait for ketchup to pour out. They’re plastic so you can squeeze them, instead of relying on gravity to do your work for you. The top (bottom?) even has a no-drip mechanism to keep ketchup off your cap.  Brilliant.

It makes me really happy that we’ve advanced to the point, as a civilization, where we no longer need to spend time and energy worrying about the best way to package, distribute, and utilize our ketchup resources. Heinz, you’ve done it again.

Hail packaging science.