image courtesy of Gizmodo

Among the hustle and bustle of our routine work, everyone in the office is constantly sending around links – both to stay up on digital happenings, as well as to share LOLs (more of the second one). At the end of every week, we collect the best and write about them here for you.

We kick it off with a nod to the Roman Empire…

1. Apple, Amazon, Facebook, oh my!
Apparently they’re all going to crumble anyway, but Amazon looks good (even while its profits are falling). Then, Harvard Business Review takes a look at how Apple can stay at the top through the lens of strategy. 

2. Hacking your way to Happily Ever After
Figuring out how love works may be easier than ever. At least according to Amy Web, a digital strategist who gamed online dating to meet her match. Without relying on happenstance, Amy took a full out quantitative approach to finding the exact right person for her. Do, or don’t try this one at home. 

3. Chick lit has a new heroine (blogging)
From Carrie Bradshaw to ‘Shopaholic’, the glamorous trials and tribulations of the print media world have long been fodder for writers selecting an occupation for the female stars of their novels. Now, a New Media wave is here, with a new focus on the importance of the work, specifically blogging, at the centre of ‘chick lit’ books.  

4. Let there be porn
So, Vine happened this week. While many are focused on its not so PG-13 content, we are actually pretty impressed with the usability and implications for this unintentionally offensive app. It appears to have overcome many obstacles in social video sharing by simplifying the experience and syncing with Twitter.

5. Your website is fat
And it might be time to go on a diet. While many are aware that load time can affect SEO rankings, this thread explains why. It seems that Google is trying to provide its users with the best possible experience on the Internet, and we all know Internet folk hate waiting. Instead of adding that fancy addition to your site, consider trimming it down to under 3-seconds of waiting time for improved SEO.

6. Experiential ping pong balls
Our friends at Red Paper Heart are all about connecting people through physical experiences that draw on animation and technology. Their latest experiment came from this challenge: get fancy party goers (in fancy party clothing) to actually jump in a pool. The solution? 65,000 ping pong balls, of course.

7. Kitties.tumblr.com
Here’s just a taste of some of the awesome/silly Tumblrs that have been circulating IMs and emails this week: Swoosh Art, Patakk, and The Kitten Covers. 

8. Musicians as creative directors. It’s a thing.
Joining the likes of Lady Gaga (Polaroid) and Will.i.am (Intel), Alicia Keys is officially the new Global Creative Director for Blackberry. While we’re happy for Blackberry that they’re giving it another go, we have to wonder: does Alicia know what she’s doing? She’s pretty good at dropping buzzwords, at least. So that’s a good start.

Backward Thinking:

Web Font Viewer
Most Interesting Web Experiments of 2012
Design Studio in Practice

Looking for more inspiration? Grab an e-book of our first 100 Forward Thinking posts or look through our case studies.