Thursday, 30 April 2009

this week, may we humbly recommend...



madam hyde writes for the guardian. she is goooood. and very funny. and in this enlightened tome, she exposes one of the strangest aspects of contemporary culture: the emergence of often bird-brained celebrities as our new priesthood, dispensing wisdom and performing good works.

surprise announcement in aussie parliament

wow, jason wood, federal member for la trobe in victoria, makes a strange and surprise announcement in the chamber. quality buffoonery.

Monday, 27 April 2009

keep calm and carry on



in light of recent events down mexico way, perhaps it's time to reappraise the work of old-school ravers altern 8. obviously ahead of their time, they were.

books on demand

blackwells have recently revealed an "espresso book machine" in their Charing Cross store. the book is essentially a huge database of texts (mostly out-of-copyright, but new publishers constantly added) which you can select, print and bind on the machine within 5 minutes. that, in my humble opinion, is very very cool.

obviously we've all had access to sites like project gutenberg for a while now, but reading off a screen just doesn't compare to reading a book in print, and i for one would be willing to pay for a hard-copy. as more and more publishers come on board, and the machine is spread nationwide, it means any bookshop can begin to compete with amazon on a stock level, without any expensive storage costs.

the only downside i can see is that the machine, although I'm sure it has a browsing option, won't compare with wandering around a bookshop and picking up random titles (i'm easily attracted by flashy covers). but then, nor can amazon, and they've never seemed to struggle...

facebook releases more data

Heard from econsultancy that facebook are giving more power to marketers and developers by allowing access to users photos and other information within their API. all comes with the obligatory extra level of 'allow access' buttons, but that's to be expected.

read the full article here

lisa bonet ate no basil

re: the previous post which reminded us of this palindromic classic! very weird. very al. very yankovic. too clever by half.

a man, a plan, a canal, panama

watch it one way, then the other. apparently it's the same both ways. huh? (with thanks to our friends at weekendautopsy.

Saturday, 25 April 2009

3-d movies - they're back... but are they here to stay?

there's been a whole rash of 3-d movies of late. seems it's very now (all over again). anyway, here's the initial trailer for what will almost certainly be the biggest of the year - avatar. written, directed and produced by james 'draw me, jack' cameron. it should be out round chrimbo time. the cost? well, not much change out $200 million, so say. cheap as flippin' chips in a fried potato sale.

thanks to its 3-d loveliness, we're assured it's going to be a feast for eye and mind alike. trouble is my local odeon can barely get to grips with 2-d. ah well, we'll have to toddle along to a posho cinema (with exotic asian beer and vegetable crisps) for the full visual extravaganza! now where did i put those red and blue glasses?

Friday, 24 April 2009

revolutionary new biscuit recipe



this, indeed, is a curious tale. trotsky's ashes get stolen and the very next thing...

read it here.

philips: in your face



created by tribal ddb and stink digital for phillips. check this out! very nice. very nice indeed.

is consumerism our highest calling?

entire has long been concerned about the term 'consumer'. Is that the highest calling to which the human race (or western society) can aspire?

the bishop of liverpool, rt rev james jones, offers a new perspective that supports this view. buying and selling stuff is not bad - trade is a worthy endeavor, but consumerism?

surely that's what got us in this hole!

you can listen to his thought for the day (22/04/09) here
or read it here

the stop-moaning-about-the-wembley-pitch campaign starts here



honestly, we don't know what they're going on about. bloomin' preenin' premiership peacocks. roy keane wouldn't stand for this sort of nonsense.

changing identity


discovered this little nugget in april's edition of drum. it's a really sweet visual identity for 'the sharp centre' in manchester created by a studio called four23. the logo never appears the same twice and shifts depending on the amount of data coming to and from the building. proper digital thinking.

Wednesday, 22 April 2009

a joke for our caledonian readers

barack obama on his recent visit to the uk decided to get some tasty publicity.
he visits a hospital and enters a ward of patients. none of them look sick, ill or injured.

he says hello to one, who replies:

fair fa your honest sonsie face,
great chieftain o the puddin race,
aboon them a ye take yer place,
painch, tripe or thairm,
as langs my airm.

obama is perplexed, so he smiles and moves on to the next patient, who responds:

some hae meat an canna eat,
and some wad eat that want it,
but we hae meat an we can eat,
so let the Lord be thankit.

even more puzzled, the yes-he-can man moves on to
the next patient, who starts reciting:

wee sleekit, cowerin, timorous beasty,
o the panic in thy breasty,
thou needna start awa sae hastie,
wi bickering brattle

obama hasn't got a clue what's going on. he turns to the accompanying doctor and asks, 'is this a psychiatric ward?'

'nope,' says the quack, 'this is the serious burns unit.'

Tuesday, 21 April 2009

iranian snipers inspired by george lucas



it's the annual chewbacca festival in downtime tehran. it's a strong look; it's a powerful look.

we love a good triptych!


we're not sure this is it. seems like someone's been watching david lynch's mullholland drive and inland empire a few times too many.

all new from those at diesel. only the brave. their latest smell.

check out the website - you get the movie and a twitter-fest that asks what is brave (now that we do like). it's very addictive. minutes of fun.

Monday, 20 April 2009

this is what happens when you go to thailand



lesley's got a big swollen face. not the norm, mind you. the result of a weird reaction between her skin and a fancy-dancy perfumed emollient.

apparently, at one point, during its expansion, lesley's bonce was 5 times its normal size. wish we had a picture of that!

21st century therapy?

secrettwweet.com

you know that secret you've been keeping to yourself all those years. the one that's been chewing up your insides. or maybe it's the one you've wanted to scream to the world but couldn't. well, now you can. and no-one will know it's you. at the very least, you can check out others' secrets. hmm...

Sunday, 19 April 2009

amazingly hairy creatures

a sweet little exclusive from pitchfork tv. the making of the new SFA album. as recently recommended by us. deeply fascinating. anyone who can write a cool song called 'the very best of neil diamond' deserves our respect.

Saturday, 18 April 2009

T2:rotf - hot new footage

posted by michael bay this very day. impressive skills. a new leap for cgi by all accounts. as for megan fox - hubba hubba!

NOTE: SUN 18 APRIL - LOOKS LIKE OUR EXCLUSIVE WAS JUST A LITTLE TOO EXCLUSIVE! SHAME IF YOU MISSED IT!

NOTE 2: IT'S BACK - LONG LIVE PIRATES!

Wednesday, 15 April 2009

this week, we most humbly recommend

how old is this man?


answers on a titchy, tiny electronic postcard, please.

the latest buzz on sting and his missus



my god! this is authentic. this is genuine. this is insane. sting and trudie (aka lord and lady smug) have invited a select band of, how can we put it, types for a week-long summit of, er, stuff at their swanky villa in Tuscany. you couldn't make it up. so we won't. instead we've set out the actual wording of the invite below. fancy the idea of sting plucking his lute while waxing lyrical about how to raise consciousness as a social tool? no, we don't either. file under prats.

I would like to invite you to join ... Sting and myself, along with 20 or so like-minded souls, for a week of sun, fun, food, wine, conversation, creativity and laughter.

We are gathering together some of the most creative writers, humanitarians and film-makers we can find, people who care for humanity and the world we inhabit in a conscious and thoughtful way, and whose philosophy of life informs their creative process.

The theme for the week is social consciousness and creativity – but I want it to be informal, relaxed, a source of inspiration for some of the brightest creative minds we know.

Humanitarian activists will break bread with film directors. There will be speakers who, over a long lunch, might give an informal talk about the world they occupy, and put forward visions for the way art, culture and cinema can participate in social transformation. We will rethink how change happens in our society. Who knows who you might meet, and what new friends you might make!

I shall be clucking like a gorgeous mother hen, ensuring that we'll be fed and wined to the max, sun-kissed and stimulated into oblivion/presence – you choose!

NO SCHEDULE, NO AGENDA, NO PRESSURE

OUR ONLY ASPIRATION IS TO PROVIDE INSPIRATION!

Thursday, 9 April 2009

effect-ive


lynx have always had us smiling over the 'pulling power' of their products. their website now has all the tricks for the man in the street.

get in there

techno, techno, techno


isn't tech brilliant. the world of augmented reality has been with us for a few years now. take a look at how brands can bring their products to life.

check it out

cyberpets win prizes

Tuesday, 7 April 2009

future of gaming

my girlfriend recently rekindled my lifelong love of computer games by buying me an xbox 360 for christmas. now she hates us (me and me box), but that's ok because i'm a couple of points off seargent on halo 3.

anyway...

recently, something called onlive was announced. it looks very cool, if a little implausible, but is worth keeping an eye on. it uses the concept of cloud computing (basically lots of servers around the world becoming a massive supercomputer) to build a totally online games console that works on anything that can handle video and has a net connection.

as a (totally fictitious, but informative) example:
i want to play the new game BONG. i don't own a hard copy, but merely log in to 'onlive' and begin playing; the game is processed and everything handled over the onlive cloud network. i then play the game in realtime, with no downloads, system problems etc. i can theoretically access any game and play it on my system instantly (i presume there'll be a payment system though).

the ramifications of this are immense. not only for me, but for the future of my relationship with my girlfriend. check it out at your peril...

Friday, 3 April 2009

twitter; good application #1

as brilliant as twitter is, and it is brilliant, it's currently rare that you see businesses use it to directly drive sales.

well, bakers aren't exactly known for technical innovation, but this lot have really got it nailed.

Thursday, 2 April 2009

sparkling scarlett



being extreme quoffers of the fizzy stuff, we are particularly taken by the new moet and chandon ads featuring young scarlett johansson!

wonderful shots, gorgeous wardrobe, impressive art direction.

but most of all, doesn't the new missus ryan reynolds look absolutely fizzing hot?

it must be said certain members of the office couldn't help but spurt their jeroboams when confronted with the images.

music on the move


another beauty. this ad by sony makes the journey worthwhile.

at the third stroke


sweet print ad for swatch scuba collection. copy reads: half past twelve.

Wednesday, 1 April 2009

watch me, but don't listen

jakob nielsen (or God as he's known to most web developers), recently sent out a newsletter showing some interesting stats on viewing time for online videos (US only unfortunately).

contrary to people bemoaning the death of TV, 99% of the TV/video people watch is on TV, only 1% is on their computer; even for the age group 18-24 then 98% of TV/video is watched on TV, so there is no real difference in age groups.

so, TV's not dead yet. the really interesting thing about the research is that when asked to recall their behavior, participants in the study underestimated their amount of TV viewing by 25% and overestimated their use of online video and mobile video.

God says: "First Rule of Usability? Don't Listen to Users"

risky ground, any thoughts?