Marketing

The good news is, Frito-Lay Japan's Doritos Gourmet Bacon & Mustard tortilla chips hit store shelves on April 21st. The bad news is they're only available in Japan or in your wildest dreams.

The critically acclaimed 1996 dark comedy film Fargo, written and directed by The Coen Brothers is coming to the small screen. That's right, the hilarious yodeling accent made famous by actress Frances McDorman in the classic flick also featuring Steve Buscemi and William H. Macy has cast equal star power for a TV version about to kick-off on the FX network this week. But that's not the only reason Fargo's in the news these days. . .

Differing from a tangible invention, new virtual tools for traders are shaking up the financial industry. Michael Lewis' Flash Boys -- a top-selling treatise on the state of modern-day Wall Street -- is turning the stock market ecosystem on its head. For those who still think the hallowed halls of the stock exchange is still about alpha-male floor traders whaling in trading pits to 'buy' and 'sell' - think again -- for that world is officially DOA.

Ever consider leaving Facebook? Heck, the Millennials are bailing in droves. But when push comes to shove and it's time to put the pedal to the metal, how many of us would actually pull the trigger? Well, there is one brave band of renegades who have not only set the bar fairly high as to how to cut those ties - but also how to read the riot act to the founding fathers while walking out of the door.

You know that Bitcoins have gone mainstream when this unique form of tender is featured in the plot line of a current TV drama. That's right - the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency lacking any political authority was featured in the recent season finale episode of the Fox network series, 'Almost Human.' Granted, while the premise of that detective drama is set in the year 2048.  .  .

Citizens of notoriously smoggy Zhengzhou could breathe a little easier – for a few minutes, at least – thanks to a local travel company's promotional gimmick. Staffers brought 20 big blue bags of fresh air collected 120 miles (300 km) away at Laojun Mountain to the east-central Chinese city and distributed it  to grateful mask-wearing residents.

It's hard to say, looking twenty to thirty years into the future, just how different the digital landscape will look. Semantic Technology, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Web 3.0 are presently only toddling along in their infant stage. What they will look like in the next few decades is only guesswork on our part.

Facebook's unprecedented recent $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp helped bolster the social networks' stock price 158% over the past year. In my recent blog post, "WhatsApp With Facebook's Stock?…" FB moved from $25 in February, 2013 to $70 one year later on February 26, 2014. However in acquiring the virtual reality software startup Oculus Rift this week for $2 billion, not all analysts agree that the stock market is pleased with. . .

The following are my picks for the best St. Patrick's day ever, with a few post-St. Patrick's day reconciliation-style inventions thrown in for good measure.

Hello Kitty and Playboy, two of the late twentieth century's most iconic brands, are both celebrating milestones this year and when the cat & bunny get together it's a Kodak, er, Leica moment.

For all those naysayers out there who couldn't help but caterwaul over Facebook's demise before the ink was even dry on it IPO opening, May 19, 2012 -- including myself [see "How Many Dumb F*cks Rocked Facebook's IPO Like It's 1999?"] -- our subesquent rude awakening was the world's largest social network fooled a good many of us.

Time is of the essence when running a small business -- particularly when each staff member [whether he or she is the founder or its sales agent] is often required to wear many hats, juggle multiple disciplines and multi-task on an ongoing-basis. Add travel and out-of-the-office business engagements to the mix...

Despite the fact Bitcoins were found to be the currency of choice for one online kingpin to conduct drug deals on the Deep Web, and despite the fact the current market rate for ONE Bitcoin has risen from $0.75 in 2011 to an astronomical $1000 today - does not mean you shouldn't know as much as possible about this decentralized virtual currency.

Valentine's Day is on the way and Japan's Lotteria fast food restaurants have got an extra-special unexpected sweet treat for you and your nom-nom-nomming significant other: fries with a side of chocolate dipping sauce!

For all those social media addicts out there who constantly chase the "numbers -- whether it be followers, friends or page views -- Google, in its inimical wisdom is here to tell you, popular videos are no longer a guarantee you will go viral on YouTube. In case you're not aware, with the 301 Freeze Rule, your video could be frozen in time, never to see any additional add-on ever again.

What comes to mind when one talks about disappearing text messaging? You know, the "now you see it, now you don't" type of communique that might have saved the career of one "what was he thinking" politician with the unfortunate name of Weiner.

OK, so a $3.2 billion acquisition is nothing to sneeze at! However, when your current stock price on the Nasdaq exchange is trading at $1148 per share, and your coffers are overflowing in excess of $57 billion in cash and marketable securities - $3.2 is more or less chump change. . .

Frito-Lay Japan has got THE snack for hungry gunslingers to nom on while trekking across the Waste Lands to the Dark Tower: Shrimp Mayonnaise Doritos! Sure the name's kinda dull but they're the closest thing to “Lobstrosity Doritos” you're gonna get.

In the foreseeable future, search on smartphones will allow for intuitive logic not just text-matching based on keywords. But what will our smartphones offer in the Web 3.0 world of Semantic Technology, Augmented Reality and the Internet of Things?