In a recent survey, an amazing 39% of 18-to-24-year-olds said they would consider changing employers if their company instituted a ban on Facebook. A whole generation is growing up with the social habits of Facebook. At least, we can look forward to “poking” people and sending “vampire bites” to become accepted social practices in the not-so-distant-future.

The folks at Moo are building a business around decidedly old-fashioned things, like business cards and post cards. I already fell for their hip re-invention of the calling card and now I find myself placing an order for their latest product, NoteCards. Moo is clearly banking on a certain nostalgia factor to convince people that buying stamps and stopping by the postoffice should (once again) be part of their daily lives:

We miss mail! Not email, we get tons of that, but real mail. Delivered by a friendly postie, straight to your door. So we dreamed up NoteCards – square prints made from your own photos or designs. They have a magic flap on the side, to make them stand up proudly on your mantel, bookshelf or window sill, and are perfect for mailing to friends.

You don’t even need to wait for an occasion – sure you can send them as birthday cards or invitations, but why not send one just to say ‘hello’, or ‘I miss you!’ or ‘thanks for the cake’. Make someone feel special again.

(via Moo)

Of course, bringing the allure back into antiquitated things like postal mail requires a bit of modern ingenuity, which is why Moo has worked in Web 2.0 goodies like pictures imported from your Flickr collection and personalized messages on the card backsides. If you’re creative enough, Moo might even invite you to lease your images to their library for others to use. I have a feeling Moo has another commercial hit on its hands. What better way to satisify the inner human craving for the non-virtual, the physical, in an increasingly digital world? Amy Kealoha at Cool Hunting calls it “Hallmark 2.0“. I agree. Post mail is dead, long live post mail!

Back in the 1800s, visiting cards were considered essential personal accessories for anyone with a social life. Today, visiting cards are an increasing rarity outside the business world and are considered antiquitated by the youngest generations which are more likely to exchange an SMS with buddies. Still, I find visiting cards incredibly convenient, especially for quickly exchanging addresses with new acquaintances who either lack the inclination or knowledge to use the messaging feature of their mobile phones (i.e pretty much anyone over 40).

In a recent search for a decent visiting card for the family, I came across Moo, a London-based online print service. Moo’s MiniCards, with their irregular format and individualized designs, are ill-suited around stodgy business circles, but perfect for sparking conversations at social events. I opened a Flickr account and spent a couple of hours uploading dozens of photos just to order a Moo card set. And that is what makes Moo so interesting from a business perspective: Moo sits squarely at the crossroads between the booming market in photosharing services and the growing consumer penchant for personalized merchandise (the “I made/designed/pimped/customized that” factor).

There’s no doubt that Moo offers a creative playground to its customers. I’ll leave it to others to expound on the design virtues and interesting applications of Moo cards. (I haven’t even received my cards yet, so I’ve got nothing to bring to the show-and-tell.) Instead, as an internet marketer, I find myself entranced by their fulfillment model. Moo offers worldwide shipping at a flat rate of just $4.99, regardless of whether you are in Cambridge, Calgary, or Kuala Lumpur. How incredibly customer-friendly and cosmopolitan. I’m surprised that more web2.0 businesses have not latched on to this simple, but brilliant tactic. From the get-go, Moo clearly intends to conquer the globe with their out-of-the-ordinary cards and certainly aren’t going to let the complexities of international postal rates get in the way of this mission. I suppose shipping is a loss-leader for them, but this probably is a calculated sacrifice in order to gain a global slice of the pie.

Regardless of what you think about the quality of the talent, Eurovision does have a certain degree of pure entertainment value. The voting, in particular, is quirky and confusing to the first-time viewer. A some point you being to wonder if you are watching the same show as the voters, as ratings seemingly have very little to do with song just performed. What is actually happening is classical European politics: Scandinavians voting for Scandinavians, former East Bloc for former East Bloc (as if the wall never came down), Slavs for Slavs, Iberians for Iberians, Cypriots for Greeks, and so on. It all quite amusing, until you realize these same rules apply to just about all aspects of European civilization, from the diplomatic workings of the European Union to the management policies of European corporations. Its all quite predictable, once you know the playbook. A couple of Oxford academics have even researched the subject and identified the voting blocks, in case you still wondering what those hidden voting patterns are.

In recent years, performers have started competing with each other to find the lowest common denominator in song quality, perhaps in realization that real talent is purely optional. This year, DJ Bobo will be representing Switzerland with a suitably bizarre song “Vampires are alive” and should have a good chance at claiming the top prize.

According to the Liechtensteiner Vaterland, the invasion took place somewhere in the southern part of the principality near the town Fläsch. I took the liberty of drawing a possible invasion route.