Sunday Brunch - February 19, 2012

A holiday addition of the links! I wrote this listening to John Heart Jackie, a tip from Ziser.

• Music Lessons by Seth Godin - long, expansive post about the lessons we can all learn from the demise of the music business. The passage on cannibalization really resonates with me. Since I've grown up professionally in the tech world, where you pretty much have to cannibalize your own services, so much of this feels like common sense, but it's not for the rest of the world. 
• How Companies Learn Your Secrets - Marketers are getting more and more open about what they know about you. The anecdote about how Target knew a teen girl was pregnant before her father did is mind blowing.
• An Open Letter to AJ Burnett by Mark Lisanti - every sports fan has wanted to write an angry goodbye letter to the free agent that didn't work out. Mark does it here in his own beautiful style.
• Jon Stewart's Innocuous Groin Hugging Joke - more Lisanti. Great find on a quick clip.
• Metro Theater will Work Out - pretty excited that an Equinox is going into the abandoned theater down the block. San Francisco has a lot these neighborhood theaters. Since I've lived here, they have all pretty much gone bust. It's nice to see the neighborhood will get another infusion of energy...and a clean place to work out!
• Too Good For Your Customers - good advice on communication with your customers. Include your email address. It's better than any market research could ever be.
• Reasons Why I Don't Let My Girlfriend Play With My XBox - funny and sadly true for many gamers. :)
• Henry Miller's Writing Commandments - more good advice.
• Removing Something Before Deadline - Most people rush to finish things before deadline. We should be doing the opposite.
• Diamond Foods -What the Press Release Doesn't Say - sadly I was duped in one of my personal investments, Diamond Foods. Turns out the CEO had been shifting supply payments to land just outside a quarter, which artificially inflates earnings.
• World Press Photos of the Year - fantastic pictures from 2011. One of the best collections I've seen.