George Lois

Watching "Art & Copy" on #PBS - I want George Lois to create my kick ass ad campaign for my product, this guy rocks.

If you are involved in products, marketing, or have ever seen an advertisement sometime in the last 30 years then give yourself a kick in the nuts and go watch this tv show.


Cheers,
Dean

Bush - Obama video mashup

Watching Obama on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, i think both of them did very well, Stewart wasn't timid and Obama wasn't pulling punches about sticking to his guns.

Jodie made an interesting comment, "I think people have forgotten how inarticulate Bush actually was" - lol, cool idea - i think someone should do a mashup of Bush and Obama speeches before the election and ask do you really want to hand back the keys?

Cheers,
Dean

Canon S95 review

Canon S95 10 Mega Pixel camera  

• 10.0-megapixel sensor combined with the DIGIC 4 Image Processor creates Canon's HS System
• Capture 720p HD video in stereo sound; play back on an HDTV via the HDMI output
• f/2.0 lens for low light conditions or shallow depth-of-field; control ring for intuitive manual control
• 3.8x optical zoom; 28mm wide-angle lens   

I'm at best a point and shoot photographer, and i've only owned my new Canon S95 10 Mega Pixel camera for 1 month or so but here are my initial thoughts.

Minor peeve;

- the shoot button isn't where you think it would be, it should be located where the focus rocker switch is.

- the flash pops up right where your fingers are, should be moved.

Major peeves;
- the photos can only be sequentially named, there is no option to name the photos taken with date and time which is the way my old Fuji had as an option (and my preferred way of naming files)
- the photos can only be exported to a local drive, for whatever reason in their wisdom Canon have decided to not allow the software to write to network dives which is just silly.

Apart from that getting some really nice images, the colours and images seem to be super rich even in point and shoot mode and like i said i'm not expert but these seem pretty basic peeves that would have been found with the most basic of user testing.
 
Cheers,

Dean

Facebook legal order has been served

Anyone actually seen the video?

I wonder if it's in the wild as i figure the end recipient owns the rights... to distrubute it - i'd love to see a hitler remix of this video thumbing their nose at it.
 
 
Cheers,
Dean

Client identification wars

You may be able to watch The Office on your Google TV, but perhaps not on demand -- ABC, CBS and NBC are barring Sony and Logitech's web-infused TVs and set-top-boxes from accessing full episodes of streaming video content. The Wall Street Journal reports that all three networks have confirmed the ban, and that Fox hasn't yet reached a decision on whether it will ban Google TV as wellhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/10/21/television-networks-block-google-tv-from-accessing-web-based-con

Boxee went through this as well with Hulu a few months ago in an escalating war of changing client identification information so it would keep Boxee working for Hulu.

I'm not sure how the war ended out as i dont use Boxee.

Interestingly Google have replied saying they dont car and it's up to Hulu to change.... lol, i know which gorilla i'd back to come to the negotiating table first.


Cheers,
Dean

Piracy as a distribution model

Piracy trumps obscurity again
Here’s a short illustrated story for you:
Steve Lieber is a comic book artist. He drew Underground, a graphic novel (written by Jeff Parker, drawn by Steve, and colored by Ron Chan). The story follows Park Ranger Wesley Fischer as she tries to save Stillwater Cave – and then has to save herself.
On Sunday (3 days ago, as of time of writing) a fan posted scans of every single page onto 4chan (EDIT: archive of the 4chan thread on Steve Lieber’s site), a well-known discussion forum.
http://new-media.lazaruscorporation.co.uk/2010/10/piracy-trumps-obscurity-again/comment-page-1/#comment-880


I'm calling BS on this. Without a X axis to this graph and then an A/B test where only "a limited excerpt" is released on 4Chan can you claim this was good for the author.


If someone posted my entire content online i'd have a problem with it.

BTW how come no link to the Boing Boing article, was it buried or a minimal post etc?

Cheers,
Dean

Private held companies implementing share trade feeds

Facebook and Zynga etc are starting to charge fees of at least $2,500 for each sale of company shares, in a move to discourage employees from putting equity in the hands of large numbers of outside owners before an initial public offering.


I wonder how this is legal? Wouldn't this need to be put into the terms of the shares at the time they were issued? how can they just implement this after they have been earned etc?

BTW want to buy Facebook shares? check out this post here; http://blog.collins.net.pr/2009/04/facebook-shares-for-sale.html

Cheers,
Dean

online robotic remote control

Want to drive a car online via remote control? http://drive.outlandersport.com/

lol, i'm sure it's in the middle of a large concrete parking lot with controls about driving outside some virtual lines but cool PR concept.

I love that they are using totally current and pre-existing technology, there is nothing new or revolutionary here in this campaign that needed to be developed, it's just some creative guy or girl in an advertising board room came up with this cool idea and thought wow lets do this as a campaign idea. Well done.
Kicks off Nov 1st.


Cheers,
Dean

Starbucks Digital Network

Great idea,
Beginning Wednesday, Starbucks customers who use the free Wi-Fi at more than 6,800 U.S. company-operated stores will be greeted with the Starbucks Digital Network (SDN) — an exclusive content network curated by the company and designed to enhance the customer’s in-store experience.http://mashable.com/2010/10/19/first-look-starbucks-digital-network-is-here/

I'm surprised more of this "captive network" in return for "services" doesn't happen more often. There is a great business model for content like this and "in office" areas doctors/dentists. I did a business case around this a few years ago and still have the doc/spreadsheets if anyone wants a copy.


Cheers,
Dean

Brett Favre scandal

You know the Brett Favre scandal isn't big-time until it's been animated by Taiwanese TV:



ha ha this is a classic.

QR codes being used by UK tv.

http://www.itv.com/channels/itv2/itv2shows/theonlywayisessex/qrcode/instructions/

There's a new way to get your hands on the latest gossip from The Only Way Is Essex, and it involves the crazy barcode you can see above.

From time to time, you'll see the code appear on screen around the show.And here's the clever bit: if you're the owner of a smartphone, you can download a QR Code reader app and get instant access to some exciting Essex extras.

Simply open the app and scan the code directly from your TV, and the latest tasty titbit of Essex gossip and scandal is all yours…

Great to see QR codes getting use in this genre. Enabling quick access to "users in this age group"  and in a "two screen world" makes perfect sense.
 
If you've never head about QR codes and want to get up to speed check out http://www.Cognation.net/QR
 
Cheers,
Dean 

Condaleeza Rice

Watching Condaleeza Rice on #JohnStewart ,she's actually really funny and enticing. I might actually buy her book Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family based on this. #LiveTVchat

Cheers,
Dean

Liu Wei winning "China's Got Talent"

Watching CNN story about an armless man winning "Chinas got talent" This guy is amazing- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1Qut0Nrsiw - #LiveTVchat


(performance video kicks off at about 2.20)

What an amazing talent. I feel blessed with my lazy untalented life when you see something like this.

Cheers,
Dean

Windows 7 mobile in perspective

Everyone is saying that if Windows 7 Mobile fails it's a big deal, lol - lets put it into perspective, if they sell 20m handsets this year at $25 a license - thats $500m in revenue.

Microsoft makes about $20b dollars a year in PROFIT so $500m a year in REVENUE will hardly even make a dent.


Cheers,
Dean

CMRL?

Anyone know anything about this?

http://dotgo.com/Support/Documentation/doc0001.1.0

I fear for their business model – what do you think?


Cheers,
Dean

iPhone apps to be ported over for PC's?

http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-features/51921-intel-eyes-iphone-apps-for-x86-based-mobile-devices
Intel is reportedly coding a utility that will allow devs to easily port iPhone applications to x86-based mobile devices. "We'll get [applications on] AppUp, then Meego and I imagine Windows. It's basically taking the existing applications, finding the ones that are most relevant to end users and ensuring they get ported over.

Wow would this even be possible? and if so why aren't they already available for Apple laptops etc?

This is going to explode the App Store for these kinds of "snack" apps. Reminds me of buying apps from magazines for my TRS-80 on cassette tape.


Cheers,
Dean

Mobile Barcode Scanning UP

What they fail to mention in the article I comment on below, as they haven't published my comments yet and probably never will so you should forward my post url

http://www.undertheradarblog.com/blog/mobile-barcode-scanning-up-700-in-2010/


My Comments below.

"* Wide spread adoption in Japan was a direct result of wireless carriers driving awareness in order to drive revenue from mobile data plans"


Yes and they also agreed on a standard system of QR codes! You know like they co-operated instead of suing each other or implemented ridiculous "gatekeeper" systems like what CTIA laughingly proposed.

It's only that the usa is screwed up by money(profits?) that mobile barcode systems have been screwed up for so long by scanbuy and neomedia.

Interestingly you dont comment that QR codes differ from the proprietary systems you mention in that they can resolve information like urls (85% of the scans according to your report) directly on the handset itself and DOESNT require a third party server.

This is just one of the many reasons people should NOT use proprietary codes and move exclusively to open and free QR codes.


Cheers,
Dean

Atlanta sign

I walked past this sign in a shop in Atlanta and couldn't work out which of the 3 retail product signs freaked me out more.

They were closed so i couldn't get any other photos but seriously any of these being sold over the counter is a serious case of WTF???

Cheers,
Dean

IVI ..not gotta license....whatye going todo about it?

(said in an italian accent  yeh i know bad joke).

There is a really interesting article in TechCrunch today.

Seattle-based ivi has arrived.  ivi lets you watch live television on the Internet.  ivi has not sought permission from or paid broadcasters.  ivi draws revenue from a flat monthly fee.  For a premium, ivi offers DVR “time sifting” features such as pause, rewind, and fast forward.  ivi currently streams programs from New York and Seattle affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and a few other networks.  So, next Thursday you could watch an episode of The Office as it airs on WNBC (an NBC station in New York)
http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/01/after-ten-years-round-two-of-the-legal-battle-over-internet-tv-is-here/


There is a similar company in Australia doing the same thing with FTA, check out http://www.mytvr.com.au/

Will be interesting to see how this one plays out, especially in reference to the cablevision ruling last year - http://blog.collins.net.pr/2008/08/cloudification-of-your-content.html  
 
Personally i can totally see both sides of the fence on this one, but at the end of the day i dont believe that television channels just because they are broadcasting that they "give away" the rights to all and sundry. The bigger question though is what happens if someone invents a device which installs on a home network but then routes the traffic off to disks in the cloud? eg a slingbox that comes with cloud storage capabilities, oh and real time encoding into multiple formats eg. mobile, low bandwidth laptop streaming, PSP or iPad size all in real time......
 
May we live in interesting times.
 
 
Cheers,
Dean 

Rental car insurance

lol my rental car is parked in spot 666, i think i should have upgraded my insurance options :)

Water costs you never thought of

Watching CNBC documentary on water - really interesting factoid about the amount of water to "produce" a product (eg instead of carbon footprint - its a water footprint), some of the figures really caught me by surprise eg;
- it takes 713 gallons to make one shirt,
- it takes 630 gallons to make one hamburger patty
- it takes 53 gallons to make one egg.

Amazing figures when you consider the agricultural unsubsidized rate for usa water is about 1c per gallon.


Cheers,
Dean