jess3 blogs,

about how Flickr users are mad as hell about the Yahoo ID annoucement

We all knew this was coming. In an e-mail to users, Flickr said founding members, known as "old skool" users, would have to switch to Yahoo IDs by15 March "simplify the sign in process."


Many, including Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, have left negative comments on the company's forum. "I like being Old Skool. Please reconsider!" he said.

Thomas Hawk is all over the issue on his Digital Connection blog and has also posted to digg, with "dug" votes rising fast (100+ since I started writing this):

"Flickr needs to reverse the asinine decisions made today to force people to merge their accounts with Yahoo and to place new limits on your contacts and tags.Here are some of the more interesting comments pulled over the past few hours from two flickr forums where they are taking a beating over this right now.People are pissed."

posted by: Leslie

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about New York Launching an Official City Condom


New York City is known for taking branding to a whole new level and this recent condom campaign is no exception. You certainly would never see the boldness of such a campaign even get off the ground in the Bible Belt, let alone get suggested.
The details...
Associated Press reports (and I read it in the Wash Times, heheh) that there will soon be available from city hall "an official New York condom" perhaps in a "jazzy wrapper, with a colourful subway map."
The reasoning? "Brands work, and people use branded items more than they use non-branded items, whether it's a cola or a medicine, even," New York Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said.
For a city that hands out 1.5 million free condoms each month in ordinary packaging, has more than 100,000 of its citizens infected with HIV or AIDS, and has AIDS as the third leading cause of death among New Yorkers under 65... this may just be an interesting move to get say 5 to 5,000 to [hopefully] 500,000 more people to crack open the wrapper.
Behavior is hard to shift, alter, influence, CHANGE. Especially sexual behavior. But more power to them.

posted by: Leslie

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about how the web used to be

about flash face hotness

monoface

monoface
is mono’s way of saying Happy New Year.

about user generated minisite from american express

http://clips.mylifemycard.com/

great user generated content minisite for american express. they ask consumers to create 15second clips, and the clips are available for download to ipod amongst other things. web 2.0 goodness

this could be a model for success for other companies that dare to be different.

oh, and apparently american express requires customers to pay them within 30days, but they dont pay their vendors for 60 days..

about blur studio

GENTLEMEN'S DUEL

Blur Studio recently updated their site along with a new trailer for their latest project ‘A Gentlemen’s Duel’.

about a great documentary about the history of iPod






In late December, Discovery Channel (US) aired a great documentary about the history of iPod. Since it's introduction in October 2001, Apple sold over 70 million pieces worldwide. An amazing story.

about a crazy japanese ad



It's a little bit too long (and definitely inspired by the Stockholm's musical advertising idea) but it's quite amusing to watch, especially for those who are always curious to know what's going on in Japan.

Bear in mind that the actors in the spot are all Sapporo's employees...

about how content is not [necessarily] king

Rather, content aggregation and context are (according to Bear Sterns analyst Spencer Wang, in his report "Why Aggregation and Context and Not [Necessarily] Content are King in Entertainment" --> view presentation here).
His basic thesis, according to this article I'm reading in AlwaysOn Magazine:"The amount of online content choice continues to proliferate, and at exponential rates, the value of SMART AGGREGATION goes up." (Emphasis added)
Looking at the Latin behind aggregate: we see it is from aggregtus, past participle of aggregre, to add to : ad-, ad- + gregre, to collect (from grex, greg-, flock). We are not just CREATING CONTENT... we are intelligently collecting, flocking together...
But how do we discern between good content and bad? right and wrong? without getting too philosophical, we really let the [free] market do it's thang...
Basically, it's the Zagatization of everything... "Everybody is a critic" (so says David Carlick).
And we count on our zagatian brethren to filter, cull, judge and evaluate.
This is a modern version of an age old law of economics: ppl are rational actors and left relatively unrestrained to make decisions, their collective opinion will generally result in the best possible outcome.

posted by: Leslie

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about how having movies mailed to you is so last century...



"Broadband Internet access speeds are now the norm, rather than the exception, in America, and all kinds of digital media are available -- plenty of it for free.
As such, many people have been predicting the end of the popular Netflix movie rental company for some time, largely due to its traditional mail-based delivery model.
Not so fast, according to an interesting story from the New York Times, as Netflix has introduced an online service to deliver movies and TV programs to a user's PC as streaming video.
And, better than that, it's free to Netflix subscribers!
All it takes is downloading some special software from the Netflix Web site to your Windows PC.
Most of Netflix's subscriber base, who pay $18 every month to keep up to three movies at a time, receives 18 hours of free movie watching via the site (cheaper plans offer fewer hours).
Also, should a customer not like a movie they've sampled via the Internet, they can stop it at any time and be charged for only the time they spent watching it."
More:
New York Times January 16, 2007
The (Lakeland, FL) Ledger January 15, 2007

posted by: Leslie

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about how Air America Radio finally found a buyer... I bet Rush Limbaugh is shaking in his loafers...




As reported by AP today:
"Air America Radio, a liberal talk radio network, said Monday that it had reached a tentative agreement to be sold to the founder of a New York area real estate company. The network also said that Al Franken, its longtime headline personality, would depart next month.
The agreement with Stephen Green, the founder and chairman of SL Green Realty Corp., appears to rescue the struggling network, which has been seeking a buyer since last fall when it filed for bankruptcy reorganization after reaching an impasse with one of its creditors.
Any sale would have to be approved by the bankruptcy court. The company has signed what is called a letter of intent to sell itself to Green and expects to agree on financial terms soon, Air America spokeswoman Jaime Horn said."
Nepotism at its best: "Green is the brother of Mark Green, a longtime New York politician who has also appeared frequently as a guest on Air America Radio."
More useless trivia: "Air America launched with much fanfare in 2004 as an alternative to conservative radio talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh. But it ran into several tough spots including a management shakeup just five weeks after going on the air that saw the departure of its chairman, Evan Cohen. Last April former music executive Danny Goldberg abruptly stepped aside as CEO. The current CEO is Scott Elberg."

posted by: Leslie

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about A hard to find documentary about Tetris...

...and its creator Alexey Pajitnov. Also covers the rivalries between Nintendo and Atari and all the absurdities of buying copyrights for software from a country that doesn't believe in property, much less intellectual property. Ultimately, a great documentary about a very important game




posted by: Leslie

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about Politicopia and how the revolution will be wikified


From SocialText:
Utah State Representative
Steve Urquhart, Chairman of the Rules Committee that decides what legislation goes to the floor, launched Politicopia -- a Socialtext wiki for open government.
It is apparently off to a
great start...He introduced the wiki last week on the Personal Democracy Forum with The Revolution Will Be Wikified:
Politicopia joins the revolution to improve people's ability to understand and control their government. Politicopia starts with three simple notions.
1. People need more control over government.2. Insiders have too much control over government.3. The Internet will disintermediate government.
In politics, intermediaries tightly control information. Those intermediaries are (1) special interest groups, (2) the media, and (3) bureaucrats.

Urquhart further explains Politicopia:
The people must wrest control from the intermediaries. How? By (1) improving access to information and (2) improving the ability to organize.
Politicopia will improve people's access to information in my state, Utah, by presenting a wiki-based forum for the compilation and presentation of information on actual bills pending before the Legislature. If a citizen wants to learn about an issue and shape the dialogue, Politicopia will provide a quick and solid handle on the process -- without the intermediaries filter. And if a legislator wants to hear unfiltered suggestions from interested citizens -- instead of mainly hearing from organized special interests -- Politicopia will give him or her a new source of input.
Using a Socialtext wiki, Politicopia will list the bills, present a brief summary of the issue and the bills status, invite pro and con arguments and comments, and provide links to relevant sources. Users will provide and control the content. Adding a forum where commentary and links can be added to the great information already provided on the Legislative website, Politicopia should become a very useful source for quick, accurate information on issues that the peoples representatives are deciding in Utah. Please check it out and help supply content or start a site for your state, city or mosquito abatement district.
Citizens link to the bill, build pro and con arguments, track status, link in external references and deliberate. The issues may matter to you, even if you don't live in Utah, such as:
For more on Politicopia, see Phil Windley, Doc Searls, Brit Blaser, David Weinberger and Micah Sifry. I'm encouraged to see social software employed in politics for more than campaigns and become a new valve for the heart of the legislative process.

posted by: Leslie

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about stop motion

about a second life joystick

I have been playing around with secondlife.. and after reading all the hype and analyzing it.. I think that its alot of fluff. All the concepts have been done before..

create your own space and customize it.. done (simcity, the sims.. etc)
walk around and experiment with different areas.. done (halo, grand theft auto, tony hawk)

the only thing that is new it seems is that you have a currency and that the world is open source..

the more I think about it. secondlife is like halo without guns.. and who doesn't want guns?

The thing that annoys me is how you interface with secondlife.. you use it via a internet enabled computer and have to have a live connection (and fast too).. but you are using your keyboard..

I think someone should create a specialized controller to plug in to the usb or firewire plug and let you walk around like you are use to...

about how No One Cares What You Had for Lunch


From collectingmythoughts: "No One Cares What You Had for Lunch is a book for bloggers, the premise being that bloggers run out of things to write about when all they can think of is what they ate for lunch."

This book purports to address an interesting phenomenon: the fact that there are thousands (if not millions) of bloggers posting what they ate for lunch (snack, breakfast, dinner, etc.).

However, I would argue that most of those posting on the topic of daily diet are actually apart of two key sub/microspheres within the greater Blogosphere: the
Diet-o-sphere and the Recipe-o-sphere. It's not that they "ran out of things to write about," rather, their diets and recipes are just as important to their worlds as, say, politics are to those blogging in NOVA or DC.

Nice try.

posted by: Leslie

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about why you shouldnt give iguanas viagara

Mozart, an iguana with an erection that has lasted for over a week, will have his penis amputated in the next couple of days.

Veterinarians at Antwerp's Aquatopia had sought to treat the animal's problem, but decided removal was the only solution because of the risk of infection. The good news for Mozart and his mates is that male iguanas have two penises.

Mozart, sitting on the shoulders of his keeper as camera crews focused on his red, swollen erection, seemed unperturbed by the news.

"It doesn't bother him. He doesn't know what amputation means," said vet Luc Lambrecht, adding that Mozart's sexual activity should be undimmed by the operation.

"I don't think so. That's all in his head."


article link

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about fan-fallout from the new Jimi Hendrix energy drink, "Liquid Experience"


In show business, the saying goes something like “there’s no such thing as bad press.”

Does this same adage hold true for marketing?

If it does, then Beverage Concepts is in luck, because they have had nothing BUT bad press since yesterday’s announcement to put Hendrix-alum-inspired “Liquid Experience” on the market in April.

Quoted in almost every story is another rock legend, Michael "Flea" Balzary, of RHCP: "To see his image and the beautiful feelings it has created during my lifetime cheapened by base advertising is very disappointing to me." That can't be good for business

It gets better… dovetailing on the cause-oriented marketing, a “portion” of the profits going toward a yet-to-be-named music education foundation. Join GAP, Yoplait, et al. on the “portion of the sale goes to charity” bandwagon.

In the post-Red Bull age of energy drinks, the trademark debacle surrounding the drink "Cocaine", and the use of deceased, party-hard rockers to cash in… the launch of this product makes sense. Just not sure how successful it will ultimately be. Stay tuned.

posted by: Leslie

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about how we are not the only country to have political philanderers... Katsav, join the Clinton-Foley Club

A variety of takes... from around the world:

President says rape claim is 'media witch-hunt' and vows not to quit (Scotsman, UK)
  • And by "vow not to quit," I mean to say, I am going to quit...
Israel's president defends his reputation while offering to step aside (Knight-Ridder Washington Bureau )
  • And by defending my reputation, I mean to say, I feel so good about who I am as a person, that I am going to step aside...

Katsav quits temporarily to fight rape claims (Irish Examiner, Ireland)

  • "Quitting Temporarily" - sounds like an oxymoronic statement to me...

All the president's men weren't enough (Ha'aretz, Israel)

  • To put humpty together again!

Overall, my vote for "Great coverage and photos" is on YNET NEWS


posted by: Leslie

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about Kerry, not running for president in 2008... let's all cry and blog about it...


If there's nothing more a conservative blogger loves to do is find a witty way of taking an open-shot-dig at a Dem. Case and point? Drudge's front-page coverage (as of 4 pm today) of the Kerry announcement... a nice top-billing for the long-faced, Senate-floor-crying-Kerry (needless to say, this shot basically cements his soft-Northeasterner-with-questionable 'Nam creds and an obvious low-opinion for our troops in Iraq persona)

Drudge’s subhead in the article listings: “KERRY OPTS OUT OF '08 BID; ASSOCIATES CITE 'BOTCHED JOKE'...” Hilarious. Botched joke. Ha. I get it.

Another funny – but true – headline: “Demonstrably Unelectable Candidate Drops Out of Presidential Race,” from Tokatakiya.

Last but not least, from the man himself… on his very own blog! Look at him, all Candidate 2.0 and whatnot… but without being an actual candidate. Speaking of Candidates getting all 2.0 and being softie [wannabe] Northeasterners (but is actually from IL, like another ’08, 2.0 Candidate I know)… look at Ms. Rod-C., all did up, bookshelf-side… (IMHO, Barack wins hands down… on looks, demeanor, street cred, proud Chi-town roots, and intellect alone).

"The rest of the story".... as told by the DC AP.


Botched Joke Apology:



Stuck in Iraq video by JT Marlin:



posted by: Leslie

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about this parody of the infamous dove evolution campaign by Ogilvy

about this book meme..

Alison tagged me with this meme

1) Find the nearest book,
2) Open to page 123,
3) Type lines 6-8,
4) Tag three others.


"without distortion, try to present the facts as the main feature of your map, which should serve only as a springboard for the idea you're trying to put across"

from the book "how to draw maps and diagrams" by bruce robertson

and I am tagging Howard Mortman, Rohit, and Rob Bluey

about coachella 2007 lineup

about IDBI Education Loans!

A really well thought and very well art directed ad for the Education Loans Facility from IDBI Bank. The idea of using currency notes has been done several times but what is refreshing is the fact that it looks fresh here. Nice work from Bates Enterprise in Mumbai.
Agency: Bates Enterprise, Mumbai, India >> Creative Directors: Rajeev Raja, Prash Gaikwad, Rajiv R. Menon >> Art Director: Prash Gaikwad >> Copywriters: Ashutosh Warang, Hardik Jhaveri

about elvis is, as elvis does

about iPhone.. it is everything!

about dc snacks

this is a project I completed last year.. its very fun























about Cramer's 25 rules for investing



Cramer's 25 rules for investing are explained in "Sane Investing in an Insane World". The rules are sound and very helpful for the would-be investor to review. They are:

1. Bulls, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered.
2. It's OK to pay the taxes.
3. Don't buy all at once.
4. Buy damaged stocks, not damaged companies.
5. Diversify to control risk
6. Do your stock homework.
7. No one made a dime by panicking.
8. Buy best-of-breed companies.
9. Defend some stocks, not all.
10. Bad buys won't become takeovers.
11. Don't own too many names.
12. Cash is for winners.
13. No woulda, shoulda couldas.
14. Expect, don't fear corrections.
15. Don't forget bonds.
16. Never subsidize losers with winners.
17. Check hope at the door.
18. Be flexible.
19. When the chiefs retreat, so should you.
20. Giving up on value is a sin.
21. Be a TV critic.
22. Wait 30 days after preannouncements
23. Beware of Wall Street hype.
24. Explain your picks.
25. There's always a bull market.

about how to create a favicon.ico


Uploading The Favicon.ico File
Connect to your server and upload your Favicon.ico file to your website. You must place it into the same directory as your home (index) page, and leave it loose, making sure not to put it in an images directory or other folder.

Some browsers will look for a direct link in the HTML source code to your site's favicon.ico file. You can help these browsers by adding this link in the head section of each page on which you want the Favicon.ico to appear.
Here is the link code to include: <link rel="Shortcut Icon" href="/favicon.ico>

Once you've added this code, upload all of your modified pages.

Testing
If your new Favicon does not show up right away, try refreshing the page — or put a '?' at the end of the url, which will trick a browser into thinking the page is new and not cached.


Uploading The Favicon.ico File
Connect to your server and upload your Favicon.ico file to your website. You must place it into the same directory as your home (index) page, and leave it loose, making sure not to put it in an images directory or other folder.

Some browsers will look for a direct link in the HTML source code to your site's favicon.ico file. You can help these browsers by adding this link in the head section of each page on which you want the Favicon.ico to appear.
Here is the link code to include: <link rel="Shortcut Icon" href="/favicon.ico>
Once you've added this code, upload all of your modified pages.

Testing
If your new Favicon does not show up right away, try refreshing the page — or put a '?' at the end of the url, which will trick a browser into thinking the page is new and not cached.

about Mt Tremblant

I was just skiing in quebec canada.













check the full gallery on flickr

about The Z List

Creative Think
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That’s Great Marketing!
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Customers Rock!
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Billions With Zero Knowledge
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darrenbarefoot.com
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The Emerging Brand
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On Influence & Automation
Bullshitobserver
Servant of Chaos
converstations
eSoup
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aialone
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¡Hola! Oi! Hi!
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together
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Jeremy Latham’s Blog
SMogger Social Media Blog
Masey.com

+ my 5

Digital influence Mapping Project
Rohit bhargava
JESS3
OgilvyPR Blog
We will know when we get there

about flickr slideshow of my design portfolio

about Apple Announces iPhone




9:42am - "Well today, we're introducing THREE revolutionary new products. The first one is a widescreen ipod with touch controls" The crowd goes wild. "The second is a revolutinoary new mobile phone."

9:43am - "And the third is a breakthrough internet communications device." Tepid response on that last one, but he almost got a standing ovation on the phone. '


"An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator. An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator.... these are NOT three separate devices!"


"And we are calling it iPhone!"

"Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone. And here it is..." It's a gag image, cheers.

9:44am - "Before we get into it, let me talk about a category of things ... the most advanced phones are called smartphones. They typically involve a phone, have plastic little keyboards on them, the problem is they're not so smart and they're not so easy to use. If you make a biz school 101 graph, cellphones are at the bottom... smartphones are a little smarter, but they're harder to use."

9:45am - "We don't want to make either one of these things -- we want to make a leapfrog product, smart and easy to use. This is what iPhone is." How the hell are they calling it iPhone, now? Linksys? Cisco?



9:46am - A revolutionary UI, the result of years of development -- the result of years of development." Shows Q, Treo, E62, BlackBerry."

9:47am - "The problem is really in the bottom 40% -- keyboards that are there whether you need them or not. They have control buttons that are fixed in plastic. Every app wants a different button. You can't add new buttons. How do you solve this problem? We solved this problem -- we solved it in computers 20 years ago. A bitmap screen that can display anything we want -- with a pointing device."

"So how are we going to take this to a mobile device? Get rid of all the buttons, and just make a giant screen. So how are we going to communicate? We're going to use a stylus -- no. Who wants a stylus?? Yuck!"

9:48am - "So let's not use a stylus, we're going to use the best pointing device in the world -- our fingers. We have invented a new technology called multi-tuch. It works like magic, you don't need a stylus, far more accurate than any interface ever shipped, it ignores touches, mutli-finger gestures, and BOY have we patented it!

9:49am - "We have been very lucky to have brought a few revolutionary user interfaces to the market -- the mouse, the click wheel, and now Multi-Touch. Each has made possible a revolutionary product, the Mac, the iPod, and now the iPhone. We're going to build on top of that with software. Software on mobile phones is like baby-software. Today we're going to show you a software breakthrough. Software that's 5-years ahead of what's on any other phone."
"iPhone runs OS X!"

Huge cheers. "Why would we want to run such a sophisticated OS on a mobile device? It's got everything we need. Mulittasking, networking, power management, graphics, security, video, graphics, audio core animation..."





"9:51am - It let us create desktop class applications and networking, not the cripled stuff you find on most phones, these are real desktop applications." He's quoting Alan Kay -"People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware." "So we're bringing breakthrough software to a mobile device for the first time."

"The second thing we're doing is we've learned from the iPod, it syncs with iTunes. People know how to sync all their media with their iPod. iTunes is going to sync all your media to your iPhone -- but also a ton of data. Contacts, calendars, photos, notes, bookmarks, email accounts..."

9:52am - "We do that through iTunes." It shows 8GB on the screen.

9:52 - "The third thing -- I want to talk a little about design. We've designed something wonderful." 3.5-inch screen, highest resolution screen we've ever shipped, 160ppi. There's only one button, the "home" button.

"It's really thin, thinner than any smartphone. 11.6mm, thinner than the Q and the BlackJack, all of them. Ring and silent, volume up and down."

9:53am - "We have a 2 megapixel camera built right in, let's take a look at the top. A headset jack, 3.5mm, SIM tray, and a sleep-wake switch. Let's look at the bottom, we've got a speaker, mic input, and an iPod connector."


9:54am - We've also got some stuff you can't see -- 3 advanced sensors. It's got a proximity sensor, bring the iPhone to your ear and your display shuts off and toushccreen shuts down. Ambient light sensor -- adjusts brightness, saves power. Third thing is an accellerometer, it can tell whether you're in landscape and portraid. Let's turn it on."

Cingular.


9:55am - "Let's start with the iPod. You can touch your music. Widescreen video, you can find your music faster, gorgeous album art, bilt-in speaker, CoverFlow, why not?"

"Let me show it to you.." Demo time!

9:56am - iPhone is up on screen. He's got digital video running out. He's starting the power on, and has a gesture. Unlocks the phone by sliding finger across -- something you can't do by accident in your pocket.


9:57am - "Here's the home screen -- simple icons. Push this icon -- boom, I'm in the iPod. How do i scroll through my list of artists? I just take my finger and I just scroll." Loud cheers, people are starting to lose it a little. He's picked the Beatles... a sign of things to come?

9:58am - Everything is totally touch, big shiny icons. "I turn my unit landscape mode, and look what happens! "it goes into CoverFlow... not the fastest scrolling. We wouldn't exactly say it scrolls like butter -- but close.

9:59am -"I just pick something and play something -- it's that easy." Plays more. "It's that simple, isn't that great?"
"Alright, I can play with this for a long time." You have been, over two years you say?






"I've also got audiobooks, I've videos. I've got TV shows and movies, this is an episode from the Office..."

10:01am - Touch play control overlays... it looks really good. You can drop into widescreen or pan and scan mode. "Again, on-screen controls, is this cool?"

10:02 - "So that is the iPhone. Pretty cool, huh? We've just started. So again, touch your music, scroll through your songs and your music. "

10:03am - "It's unbelievable. Here's some album art... no matter what you like, it looks pretty doggone gorgeous. ... with onscreen controls. I was giving the demo to someone a little while ago, and I finished the demo and I said what do you think? They said 'You had me at scrolling.'"




iPhone is a widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets you enjoy all your content — including music, audiobooks, videos, TV shows, and movies — on a beautiful 3.5-inch widescreen display. It also lets you sync your content from the iTunes library on your PC or Mac. And then you can access it all with just the touch of a finger.

about The T-shirt rule

It's a simple test of whether you've created a remarkable experience:

"Would I buy the t-shirt?"

A t-shirt for your blog or your accounting firm or your bug-fighting software.

If you're not t-shirt worthy, what would it take?

by Seth Godin

about the really converged, ubiquitous devices would have to fit in your shirt pocket, and be better than either a phone or a computer by itself.

a great article over at the Guardian unlimited on "What Jobs told me on the iPhone"

about How to Make a Folded-Paper CD Case

Instead of paying good cash for cd cases, which eventually break and end up in a landfill, how about creating your own, unique folded-paper cd cases that are biodegradable and take up a fraction of the space?

The Props:

8 ½" by 11" paper

a cd

a computer (optional)

labels (optional)

The Procedure:

1. Center a cd, which you’ll be using as a guide, at the top of a sheet of paper, as shown.

2. Fold in sides of paper to sides of cd.

3. Center cd at the middle of the folded paper.

4. Fold bottom up.

5. Fold the horizontal creases, which I’ve identified in red, to sides as indicated by arrows, so the creases are even with sides of original folded sides. (I’ve identified the creases in question with dashed lines for illustration.)

6. You'll have a box-shape sticking up toward you after making the folds in step 5. Just fold this flap down flat as shown below.

7. Tuck the "ears" that are sticking out to the sides in between the original side folds and the fold created in step 4.

8. Slip cd into front pocket and fold down top half of paper.

9. Dog-ear the top two corners of the top half of paper.

10. Slip top half of paper into pocket.

For a personal touch, print labels and photos on the front center of paper to give your cd holder some pizzazz. A picture from a trip of a lifetime or a friend’s favorite tunes.

Print the name of that book you wrote or are working on. Any paper, of course, will do including postal wrap, grocery bags or something of the decorative variety. A sheet of heavier-weight wrapping paper with a printed label makes a great way to store and share holiday pictures.



this is from curbly.com

about heaven on earth



A line-storm song by robert frost.

The line-storm clouds fly tattered and swift.
The road is forlorn all day,
Where a myriad snowy quartz stones lift,
And the hoof-prints vanish away.
The roadside flowers, too wet for the bee,
Expend their bloom in vain.
Come over the hills and far with me,
And be my love in the rain.

*thanks michael

about "When you build what you know, and when you use what you build, you've got a head start on delivering a breakout product."

that quote is from this interview about the creators of the exceptional product BASECAMP

about What Is Web 2.0

This article is an attempt to clarify just what we mean by Web 2.0.

READ IT..

about Video of Saddam Hussein being executed

about Nine leader qualities

We understand now that everyone in an organization is a leader whether they operate with a title or not. Here are nine key qualities people seek most in a leader. Which qualities do you own?

  1. Humility. It is often found in the most effective leaders, including Pope John Paul II and Abraham Lincoln.
  2. Integrity. Leaders in different industries and cultures can and do spar over the rules, but integrity is the bedrock characteristic of straight dealing. If you lose your integrity, you lose everything.
  3. Decisiveness. While consensus drives decision-making in certain quarters, most U.S. firms prize a leader’s ability to step up and make decisions, even if it’s deciding only when consensus has been reached and it’s time to act.
  4. Emotional toughness. The trick is being able to make difficult, emotional decisions without appearing cold-hearted or weak-kneed.
  5. Emotional resonance. This is the ability to grasp what motivates others and use it to inspire them into action.
  6. Adaptability. A pronounced characteristic of every leader in today’s global marketplace, adaptability is characterized chiefly by speed, but also by innovation.
  7. Self-knowledge. This valuable trait will protect you from overreaching.
  8. Passion. Fortunately, this trait is prized and encouraged in American life. If you are passionate about something, that’s where you will lead.
  9. Conviction. All leaders everywhere believe in what they’re doing.

Source: Adapted from “Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?” D. Quinn Mill, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, http://hbswk.hbs.edu.

about relationships 2.0

"PDA 2.0" and/or the "new PDA." (Public Display of Affection). Mainly seen as products of social networking phenomena like comments and feeds - though blogs, to some extent too. Basically anywhere you can publicly decry/declare something "affectionate" to or about someone else (which can take forms other than words about a person... Images, etc.), fully knowing that others you know - or they know or neither - will be reading/viewing your PDA 2.0 posting.

While it has similar characteristics to its predecessor (the physical act of displaying affection in public), this new public display of affection is in the domain of the online public. Also it sometimes seems to be done with a certain layer of tounge-and-cheekyness and has what I call the "e-removed factor" (literally "electronically removed" - you can say less or more, craft it, and can be interpreted very differently than in person, etc...).

Of course the PDA acronym has already been coopted in the tech sphere, so this may be a confusing sell if you were to use it as a term, let alone brand it or blog it.

But this and the e-removed factor essentially feeds into my idea of "relationship 2.0" - encompassing a broad spectrum of experiences from eHarmony and social networking sites to chat rooms... to even how me and my girlfriend communicate.


VIRTUAL AFFECTION a.k.a. "e-AFFECTION" a.k.a. AFFECTION 2.0

Meeting, interacting, communicating virtually on Second Life? In a lot of ways, we are already there...

about a special Spike Lee jordan shoe











JORDAN SPIZ'IKE THE RIGHT THING

the shoe combines styles from 5 editions of the shoe.

As described on kicksandthecity.com:
In celebration of their historic relationship, Jordan Brand and Spike Lee have come together to design the Jordan Brand Spiz’ike, a combination of the Jordan III, IV, V, VI, and XX. A relationship that began in the late 80’s through Nike’s agency Widen + Kennedy, Spike’s character, Mars Blackmon, and Michael Jordan became the defacto faces of the then emerging Jordan legacy. A key ingredient in helping to mold the image of the then young Jordan line, Spike Lee contributed to each sneaker represented through the Spiz’ike including his most recent return to the brand last year with the Air Jordan XX.

The designers behind the Jordan Spiz’ike took the most discernible characteristics of the Jordan III, IV, V, VI, and XX and combined them onto one upper. The Air Jordan III is represented through the cement print and sole of the sneaker, the wings of the Jordan IV are placed at the ankles of the sneaker, the netting, ankle, lacelock, and the overall shape of the sneaker are taken from the Jordan V, the Jordan VI is represented through its classic tongue, and the lasering on the Jordan XX makes another appearance on the sockliner of the Spiz’ike. In addition to the obvious Jordan design characteristics, Spike Lee’s Mars Blackmon character and his “40 Acres and a Mule” logo are placed on the back of the kix.

about children of men

i saw children of men tonight.. great film.. the photography was great and the story telling was sharp and sophisticated. it takes place 20 years in the future in london, and immigration and infertility have caused like a futuristic mad max schindlers list type of thing, the action felt like a medal of honor level.. lots of cool sound effects..

about the Skillz Rap Ups


Skillz - 06 Rap Up


Skillz - 05 Rap Up


Skillz - 04 Rap Up


Skillz - 03 Rap Up


Skillz - 02 Rap Up


Hello 89.3!!!!

about New Zealand Google Maps Mashup Roundup

Google Maps New Zealand Address Search Tool - Google Maps doesn't currently perform address search for New Zealand so use this tool until it's present.
New Zealand Accommodation Maps - Features 300 + accommodation providers: budget, to hotel resorts and luxury lodges.
Personal New Zealand Cycling tour - North and South Islands.. includes some great photos.
LocalMoa New Zealand uses Google Maps - New local search service displays results for businesses, entertainment and tourism on a great Google Maps interface.
Recent: Air New Zealand website now uses Google Maps

NZ Sights:

Waihopai Valley Listening Post (ECHELON)
Mount Taranaki
Auckland International Airport
New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands (UNESCO)
Amazing Maze 'n Maize
HEAPS more NZ Sights here..

Check out Wikimapia to learn more about specific parts of New Zealand

Previous New Zealand Google Maps Mashup Roundups: Part 1 | Part 2

about dreamweaver

WPD800-54230-61932-95601

here is a working serial for macromedia dreamweaver 8 pc edition. the industry standard html editor...a MUST HAVE

step 1 // go to http://www.adobe.com/go/trydreamweaver and download the free 30day trial

step 2 // use the provided serial number.. (above)

Done.

about the secret life of machines

about an old Jay-Z interview.. from 1996


Jay-Z Radio Interview & Freestyle (Tim Westwood’s Radio 1 Rap Show, 1996).

about Going to M.I.T. for free

By the end of this year, the contents of all 1,800 courses taught at one of the world's most prestigious universities will be available online to anyone in the world, anywhere in the world. Learners won't have to register for the classes, and everyone is accepted.

The cost? It's all free of charge.

The OpenCourseWare movement, begun at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2002 and now spread to some 120 other universities worldwide, aims to disperse knowledge far beyond the ivy-clad walls of elite campuses to anyone who has an Internet connection and a desire to learn.

Intended as an act of "intellectual philanthropy," OpenCourseWare (OCW) provides free access to course materials such as syllabi, video or audio lectures, notes, homework assignments, illustrations, and so on. So far, by giving away their content, the universities aren't discouraging students from enrolling as students. Instead, the online materials appear to be only whetting appetites for more.

"We believe strongly that education can be best advanced when knowledge is shared openly and freely," says Anne Margulies, executive director of the OCW program at MIT. "MIT is using the power of the Internet to give away all of the educational materials created here."

The MIT site (ocw.mit.edu), along with companion sites that translate the material into other languages, now average about 1.4 million visits per month from learners "in every single country on the planet," Ms. Margulies says. Those include Iraq, Darfur, "even Antarctica," she says. "We hear from [the online students] all the time with inspirational stories about how they are using these materials to change their lives. They're really, really motivated."

http://ocw.mit.edu

about Starbucks vs Ethopia

"Last week, Starbucks placed a video on YouTube responding to a video posted by the Oxfam Charity. The Oxfam video was launched in conjunction with 'Starbucks Day of Action,' held December 16th, when activists visited Starbucks locations across the world in protest of the coffee retailer's alleged mistreatment of Ethiopian farmers. The Starbucks video calmly addresses the Oxfam allegations, citing an impasse over Ethiopian trademark legalities. Starbucks claims the refusal to sign a trademark agreement with Ethiopia is a stumbling block they hope to resolve on behalf of the farmers.

The coffee chain's representative goes on to refute the contention that Starbucks refuses to pay a fair price for its coffee reserves and, in fact, routinely pays well above commodity price, and above fair trade price. Unlike many recent ineffectual corporate reactions to social journalism and networking eruptions, Starbucks' response is unique in that the corporation managed Oxfam's unconventional assault in a very unconventional way, via YouTube. Regardless of the outcome of this particular incident, the move on Starbucks' part comes off as unmistakably in touch with today's communication modes and methods."


about DC Blogger Summit

Looks like the longtime blog-friendly Washington Post is taking their love for the medium to the next level:

2007_0102postsummit2.JPG

I am definitely excited to attend, and of course applaud the Post for being one of the few major media outlets who seem to be genuinely unafraid of the power of the Interweb. The event will be held January 9, 2007, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., in the Post's auditorium (1150 15th Street NW). If you have a blog about D.C. and would like to attend, send the WaPo an email asap.

about Jan 10 - Maya & 3ds Max "Night at the Museum" Movie Event

Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Time: 10:00am - Please arrive early, as theatre doors will be closed after the event begins

Cost: Free

Location:

Reston Multiplex Cinema

11940 Market Street

Reston, VA, 20190

(Google Map)


Join us on Wednesday, January 10th for a presentation of Autodesk® Maya® 8, and Autodesk® 3ds Max® 9 and the new movie A Night at the Museum. Sit back and relax as you see highlights of the latest release of the award-winning 3D graphics, animation and special effects software on the "Big" screen. See why film and video artists, game developers, visualization professionals, Government and Military Contractors, Web and print designers turn to Maya and Max to take their work to the next level.

This is a unique opportunity to see the latest in 3D technology presentations, watch a cool movie (for free), and then mingle and talk with the local Maya users from the greater Washington, DC area. See presentations by Simulistic, Autodesk, Right Hemisphere, Art VPS, and HP. Plus, during the event over $2,000 in door prizes will be awarded during the event. Immediately following the movie, stop by for a snack at the demo exhibit area and chat with representatives from companies such as Autodesk, Art VPS, HP, Right Hemisphere, and Simulistic.

about Googles predictions of future video trends

Google's Vice-President of search products and user experience Marissa Mayer shared her vision for the role the technology company will play in the new era of video distribution.

about kiss the girl mp3

off Certified Bananas' new mixtape Sprang, this hot little number stylishly blends the Little Mermaid classic with the baltimore club sound. Certified Bananas, are based in Providence.


Certified Bananas - Kiss The Girl (Baltimore Remix).mp3


reposted because leslie likes it so much.

about mayor fenty and flavor flav



Bsivad's photo of a man speaking to Mayor Fenty. On the Flickr comment stream, it's mentioned that the photo would be a good candidate for a comments contest. I thought that was flavor flav at first glance...

via DCIST

about Liberation, the Talib Kweli & Madlib collab

about rapcats



It's a Madlib shoutout to just about everybody who was cool in hip-hop's old skool, from Schooly D and Heavy D to Slick Rick and Biz Markie. Go all the way there and then get back to Ice Cube, Ice-T and Biggie and Tupac. And remember kids: stay in school, the old skool that is.

about Google Toolbar 3.0

The Google Toolbar is great. I use it to search del.ico tags or amazon.. I find myself 80% of the time not going to the site and just searching from the browser.

A new feature in the Google Toolbar 3 Beta for Firefox and Google Toolbar 4 for IE is the ability to add search buttons for sites you search often. Google has a Button Gallery so you don't have to go through the process of creating them yourself but the gallery is missing a lot of sites. EVEN their recent purchase, YouTube, doesn't have a functional button!


Enhanced Search Box
As you type a search query into the new Toolbar's search box, you'll see a list of useful suggestions based on popular Google searches, spelling corrections and your own Toolbar search history and bookmarks. You can also click the 'G' icon in the search box to search different Google sites, the current site, or sites for which you’ve installed custom search buttons.

about Happy new years.



Jimi’s 1969/70 New Year’s Eve greetings from the stage at the Fillmore East in NYC. Somehow, “Machine Gun” seems as appropriate a way to start off the year now as it did that nite. Funny how things don’t change…

about China's Population of Internet Users Has Risen by 30 Percent Over the Past Year to 132 Million

hina's population of Internet users has risen by 30 percent over the past year to 132 million, a state news agency said Friday.

The figure was up from 123 million at the end of June, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing the government's China Internet Network Information Center.

It said the number of Chinese customers with broadband access has grown to 52 million.

The rapid rise in Internet use has propelled growth in China's online commerce, advertising and games industries, the Internet agency said.

about The Airwaves Rock Festival!



Agency: CLM BBDO, Boulogne-Billancourt >> Creative Director: Gilles Fichteberg / Jean-Francois Sacco >> Art Director: Mathieu Vinciguerra >> Copywriter: Olivier Dermaux >> Photographer: Frederic Verhoye

about The Nike ACG Campaign

Nike is launching a print campaign for its ACG winter clothing range that uses sculpture to physically represent the fluid movement of professional snowboarders and skiers.

The campaign will include nine executions created by Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam, which show members of the Nike ACG team, including X-Games medallist Andreas Hatveit.

Alvaro Sotomayor, Wieden & Kennedy creative director, said: "With the new Nike ACG campaign, we decided to override what seems to be an industry advertising standard of 'show midair shot of rider against snow and a clear blue sky, add name and logo -- done'. The idea was to transform our rider's move, a moment of brilliant physical performance, into a lasting piece of tangible reality."

Wieden & Kennedy said it wanted to avoid using multiple photographs to statically represent moves by the skiers and snowboarders, so it filmed each rider's move on video from two camera angles.

At the same time, a photograph of the rider was taken. The imagery was combined to create a 3D representation of the entire stunt, which in turn was used as the basis for a physical sculpture, crafted from the same materials that snowboards and skis are manufactured from.

The still of the rider was combined with the sculpture and superimposed onto the backdrop of the French Alps.





about Mario & Yoshi t-shirt



20 bucks over at 80stees.com

i like this one also

about R.I.P. James Brown



The hardest-workin' man in showbusiness finally gets some peace and quiet: James Brown lies in repose during a viewing at the Apollo Theater in New York City December 28th.


here is a good dj mix with some great james brown samples.. RIP JAMES BROWN.
Salaam Remi - James Brown 40th Anniversary Mix.mp3

about madvillain.





DOOM & Madlib's Madvillain video "All Caps" was animated and directed by James Reitano for TFU Studios. The video appears on Madvillain's "Madvillainy" enhanced CD.

Interview with the director

Stones Throw: How did the project of this video begin?
James Reitano: I spoke with PB Wolf and suggested an animated video for Madlib. I had always wished I could of done one for the Quasimoto LP. I think he's one of the most creative producers to come around since Prince Paul so I was hoping there was chance to do something for one of his upcoming projects. For some reason, I had those old comic book-related tv cartoons from the 60's in mind, the ones by Grant-Ray-Lawrence studios. They just moved the characters across the backgrounds, and had limited movement. (Ghostface used sound bites from those cartoons on his Cuban Linx and Supreme Clientele LP's.)

Any involvement with the artists on this theme?
MF DOOM's artwork referenced old 60's comic book stuff, so Wolf had suggested Madvillain's "Money Folder", and later gave me "All Caps" to use for the video. I showed Wolf and Otis some old tapes of those cartoons and then I called DOOM. He knew exactly what I wanted to do, and was really into it. We agreed to re-invent his character, rather than pirate any already existing characters. We talked about trenchcoats, fedora hats and CIA looking guys. We had a great conversation. Doom is a huge Jack Kirby fan, so I tried my best to reference that era in comics which happens to be my favorite stuff too.

From there, the production of the song is really what influenced the video. The music was so cinematic that I knew right off the bat, "this part needs a cliff-chase, this part needs a revelation of sorts," and really just wrote it around those ideas. The concept for the story was simple in that of a DJ and an MC. Doom being the monster, the frontman, and Madlib working behind the scenes (in a metal case to be more precise).

How was the animation done?
It was put together using old fashioned pen and paper, then scanned in, and composited it all in different programs. About 900-1000 different drawings went into this one.

There's some split-second details in here that couldn't be found without the help of a slow-motion DVD, like the letters page and everything in the ads. Any hidden messages to look for?
That's the advantage to animation, considering you're dealing with everything a frame at a time. There's a Bozo Meko reference in there, Afrika Bambaataa and Afrika Islam's first release on vinyl. There's also a Haliburton reference, and Peanut Butter Wolf's last name is snuck in there as well. Also, one of the thugs is the rookie–he ends up in a body cast toward the end.

See more work at: www.thunderfromunder.com
Madvillain: www.stonesthrow.com/madvillain

about Cut Chemist- "Spat"

I love his new album.. Cut Chemist is the MAN.



check out this link to see the first draft rough cut of this.. VERY COOL

about Sweet pop-rock and a slammin' bevvy of barely dressed hot girls playing with joysticks and whatnot.



Length: 2 min 56 sec

Release Year: 2005

Cast & Crew:

* Artist - Plain White T's
* Director - Jay Martin

about james brown. prince. and michael jackson.. on one stage



so michael jackson starts this video on stage, then he brigs on james brown.. then prince comes in on his bodyguards back.. just like from chapelle show!!!


about kissing cousins

about apocaloptyo

Opening quote:
"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within." — W. Durant

apocalypto highres trailer
rotten tomatoes link







Apocalypto is a 2006 film directed by Mel Gibson. Set in the Yucatán Peninsula before Spanish contact, it depicts one man's experience during the decline of the ancient Maya civilization. The film was released in the US on December 8, 2006 to mostly positive reviews from film critics according to Rotten Tomatoes, but has been criticized by a number of anthropologists and archaeologists working in the field of Mayanist studies for its depiction of ancient Maya society as little more than unsophisticated "brutal savages", as well as for its evident anachronisms and other historical inaccuracies. Other experts, however, have stated that the historical inaccuaracies are little different from the licenses taken in other Hollywood films and have further stated that "Apocalypto" has drawn much needed attention to a previously obscure civilization. Despite critical acclaim, the movie was a box office bomb.

about stop motion animation..



this video is kind of annoying.. but the unique vibe you get from this.. inspires me to do one of these.