Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is cool. There I said it.

Through it’s nerdy cool image (take Questlove of The Roots, the show’s house band, tweeting during the show as an example) the show that replaced Late Night with Conan O’Brien has become the perfect nightcap for the fast-paced, ridiculously attentive, socially-connected 18-35 demographic. This is mainly because Fallon, who gets respect from both nerds and celebrities alike, creates a comfortable environment for guests and his audience to truly connect (usually through Twitter). Armed with a MacBook atop his desk and with guests ranging from technology blog editors to famous actors and singers, Fallon has managed to capture an audience that has, for the most, alluded the big networks.

Kudos to Jimmy Fallon. The show is entertaining, real and like Fallon himself, just the right amount of awkward without losing it’s cool.

The biggest announcement from today’s WWDC conference isn’t new MacBooks or Snow Leopard, it’s the ability for hardware accessories to communicate directly with software on your iPhone. This means finding, reserving and unlocking a ZipCar with your phone. Or doing blood-glucose monitoring on the spot. The possibilities are endless.

Business Week’s latest feature takes a look at the role government can play in innovating for our future.

This year’s 16 finalists for the Innovations in American Government Awards, given each year since 1986 by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance & Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, illustrate ways that cities, counties, states, and even federal agencies are reinventing services.

My opinion of governments role in service innovation is that of Fred Wilson’s, government needs to be a catalyst in structuring the problem clearly and then letting the market tackle the solutions.There are tonnes of creative technologists (*cough*, *cough*) waiting to feast on well-structured problems to things like Health Care, Finance and Education.

It is truly bittersweet that I announce I’ve left the team at Teehan+Lax. My time there was amazing. Contributing to award-winning work with easily the most creative and down-to-earth people I’ve ever worked with made it hard to call what I did a job.

My next step is a Partnership at Uproot, a creative technology shop here in Toronto. At Uproot, our goal is to partner with all kinds of organizations to solve interesting challenges like connected agriculture, open government and next generation publishing. Like any web-savvy group, you can follow our progress on Twitter and Flickr.

Thanks again to T+L for the great times, without them I wouldn’t be ready for this next challenge.

Back in December I introduced you to Rajon Rondo, the point guard for the Boston Celtics.

A guard from the University of Kentucky, the 6′1″, 171 lbs Rondo is only 2+ years into his NBA campaign and already has a championship ring with the Boston Celtics. His success has been attributed to having the likes of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and NBA Finals MVP, Paul Pierce as teammates, but there’s more to it. Rondo is much more than his stats (and they are good stats); He is the engine that drives almost every play the Celtics run. Watching Boston’s offense you’ll see everything starts with Rondo.

Since then the Celtics have gone on to another 50+ win season and are in the middle of one of the most exciting first round playoff series I’ve seen since I started watching the NBA in ‘87. And with Kevin Garnett out for the entire series one little guy has stepped it up to help the Celtics make their push for a consecutive championship. Of course, it’s Rondo. Here’s his averages for the series so far:

24.2 pts, 10.2 assists, 10.2 rebs on 51% shooting from the field, 72% from the line and 54% from the 3-pt line. Compare that with his season averages: 11 pts, 5 assists, 4 rebs with percentages of 50%, 64% and 31% from the field, line and 3-pt line respectively. If he keeps it up he’ll be only the second player to average a triple-double in the first round, next to the great Oscar Robertson.

With all the buzz about the potential (and probable) finals match-up between Kobe and LeBron it’s nice to see the next class of superstars, like Rondo (see also: Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose, Thaddeus Young) get theirs.

I attended the Greener Living Show in Toronto on Friday. It was refreshing to see the different kinds of products and services that can help reduce your impact on the environment. Like most people, I didn’t realise how good it is to live green. From organic cotton underwear to drinking local wine, the Greener Living showed me how easy and enjoyable living green can be.

In an effort to live more eco-conscious I also thought it would be a good idea if a portion of future posts on this blog promoted simple ways to live green. Today, walking.

Whether it’s warm outside or not, I’ve found getting around on my own two feet is the only way to go. (In fact, I sold my car 3 years ago and haven’t looked back). Even if you have to go across town, grab a backpack and jump on the streetcar. It sounds like it would take a while but as motorists stuck on the Gardiner Expressway found out this weekend, it’s usually less agonizing to take public transit.

For people living outside of urban centres, walking won’t do you any good if nothing’s around. Walkscore is a great tool that tells you how walkable your neighbourhood is (mine is rated ‘Very walkable’). If your neighborhood isn’t very walkable, consider why. Are you in an area of urban sprawl? Is your local government not doing enough to promote accessible public transit? Do you need to move? Walking is definitely easier in urban areas but just because you’re not in the city it doesn’t mean you can’t try to get outside and explore. And if that gets you nowhere, perhaps your next step is looking at low-emission or alternatively fueled vehicles.

For the rest of us though, walking is a a great first step (ha) toward living green.

After 3+ months, my library at Image Spark is starting to take shape. I find it fascinating that the images I’ve collected are revealing tastes that I was never aware of.
For example, as you can see above I’m drawn to minimal and vintage items, things with wood and I’ve got a thing for posters. I wouldn’t have necessarily verbalized any of those if someone asked what my general tastes were. Some of the other tags, like mid-century modern, are more obvious, especially if you’ve seen my apartment. And other things that I love, like skating and sneakers aren’t represented at all.

I wonder at how many other people are finding out what really inspires them as they collect and converge images on Image Spark. Sign up today for a free account and find out what inspires you.

In this economic climate, you’re probably not thinking about airports. However, when traveling it’s the one thing you’ll always have a comment about – and it’s probably not a nice comment. On the flip side, there are some great airports out there. If you’re traveling soon, maybe you’ll pass through one of these.

Here’s an hommage to newspapers in a way. Really Interesting Group’s “Things Our Friends Have Written On the Internet”.

Via thishappened.org