Two Azerbaijani bloggers (Adnan Hajizade, 26, and Emin Milli, 29) have been arrested and face up to five years in jail for uploading a video of one of the bloggers in an oversized grey suit giving a press conference. The video shows the donkey at the head of a table surrounded by journalists. The video is a parody of one of Azerbaijan's notorious "news-conferences" that act as propaganda pulpits for the government. This is the latest example of the Internet crackdown that has been seen across the ex-Soviet state.
The two youths have been officially charged under hooliganism laws, and the police say that the pair were also involved in a "scuffle at a restaurant". Independent reports have indicated, however, that the "scuffle" is simply an excuse to hold the pair under a two-month pre-trial detention order. There is no question that it is a political arrest. Their trial is scheduled to begin in Baku on September 4.
Speaking to the BBC, Elsa Vidal - Europe desk officer with Reporters Without Borders - said that press freedoms in Azerbaijan were almost non-existent, making it "one of the black spots of the former USSR. The situation is still severe and local public servants enjoy virtual immunity from an investigation from the press when they try and expose corruption. There are no grounds for the bloggers to be prosecuted. They should be released and all accusations should be dropped. The authorities have more to lose in jailing the bloggers than in freeing them, but who knows what will actually be said at the trial?" she added.
The UN Human Rights Committee has also raised similar concerns, saying there are "extensive limitations to the right to freedom of expression in Azerbaijan". A statement from the lawyer for Hajizade and Milli says that it was them who were attacked by two men and when they went to a local police station to file a complaint they were arrested on hooliganism charges. "This incident is definitely politically motivated. My clients did not beat anybody, quite the opposite," said the lawyer, Isakhan Ashurov.
Hajizade, the co-founder of the OL (To Be) youth movement and Milli, a co-founder of online television channel AN Network, are both Western-educated and central to a growing movement of young people who are using the Internet to criticise the Azerbaijan government. The main focus for these movements is Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Much of the criticism toward the government lately, has surrounded a new law in Kazakhstan that allows the closing of a website for three months if it is deemed to have intentionally published illegal information.
The arrests have gained a large amount of online and offline coverage and many of Hajizade and Milli's supporters have taken to creating even more online content through both blogs and Social Networking sites; including a Facebook Page with over 900 supporters and an online video petition.
In response to the growing support, a senior advisor to President Ilham Aliyev, Ali Hasanov, has said "People are not arrested in Azerbaijan because of political activity.... There was a scuffle between some young people and some of them were injured". He added, "Law-enforcement agencies are investigating the case and will give an impartial assessment".
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Azerbaijani Bloggers Jailed
Friday, September 4, 2009
The Friday Tweet - A Round-Up of What's Happening in the Tweetosphere
The US Open Says No To Twitter!
The Guardian carried the story on Wednesday that the US Open has official banned all Tweeting by it's competitors. According to the article, signs have been placed in the player's lounge and locker rooms, reading:
"Important. Player Notice. Twitter Warning. Many of you will have Twitter accounts in order for your fans to follow you and to become more engaged in you and the sport – and this is great ... However popular it is, it is important to warn you of some of the dangers posed by Twittering as it relates to the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program Rules."
Many of tennis's top stars are understandably annoyed at the development but it looks unlikely that the Open's Authorities will back down.
Yahoo! Meme Set For Launch
Yahoo!'s Twitter rival, Yahoo! Meme, is reportedly ready for launch. Yahoo!'s micro-blogging Twitter-rival has already rolled-out in Spain and Portugal and news has surfaced that an English-language version is nearly complete. At the moment the service is by invite-only but it seems likely that Yahoo! will launch a fully functional version as part of the company's main social media strategy for Q4.
Meme allows users to post 100 character updates, photos, mp3s or videos (by a links). Just like Twitter the service features "reposts", that allow users to pass on the updates of their friends. Yahoo! have been very secretive about all launch details and there is no no official statement confirming its arrivals.
You can request an invite for Yahoo! Meme from here.
More Tweeters Then MySpacers in the UK
According to Hitwise Twitter now has more UK internet visits than MySpace. For the week ending 29th August, Twitter caught 1 in every 400 UK internet visits and climbed up to the 27th most visited site in the UK, a position ahead of MySpace. In relation to Social Networking, Twitter still falls short of Facebook, YouTube and Bebo.
It is important to note that Hitwise doesn't include data on users who access Twitter with their mobile phone or a third party application. This would imply that the actual numbers Tweeting are even further ahead of MySpace then expected and rapidly closing in on Bebo.
How Can Twitter Avoid #FAILure
The always brilliant eConsultancy posted a great article on Wednesday about the 5 things Twitter needs to do to prevent it #FAILing. To be honest, I could summarise this one for you but you really should head over and check it out yourself. While there, check out the rest of the blog - I highly recommend it!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
13,957 People Dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller
13,957 people recently came together in Mexico to dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller and set a new world record. I bet those 1,500 inmates at the Phillippine prison feel pretty bad now!
Augmented Reality: Contact Lenses
Without a doubt, Augmented Reality has captured my attention this year in a big way. I've blogged about AR Business Cards, an AR Museum Guide, AR Games and even an AR Music Video. For me, Augmented Reality technology represents the first major technological convergence with serious potential for both entertainment and real world application. So here I present to you the most cutting edge use of Augmented Reality I've seen to date - Augmented Reality Contact Lenses.
Our eyes are one of the most astonishing organs in our body. They allow us to see millions of colours, seamlessly adjust between shifting light conditions, and they can transmit all this information to your brain at a faster speed then your broadband internet connection. Your retina has a static contrast ratio of approximately 100:1, however your is capable of adjusting its exposure both chemically and by the iris. In this way your eye can achieve a dynamic contrast ratio of about 1,000,000:1. Even more phenomenal is that the process is non-linear and multifaceted, so even if your field of vision is exposed to bright light, the process simply starts again, without any ill-effect.
So what if you could do even better? What if you could augmented this incredible organ?
Imagine a world akin to the novels of Vernor Vinge, in which characters utilise contact lenses that allow them to access global information banks through graphic interfaces right before their eyes. This is the world of Augmented Reality Contact Lenses, and it's a world that may not be too far away.
Consider what would be necessary to achieve such technologies - microelectronics, nanocomputers, transparent synthetic conductors. The truth is, these things are not science-fiction and are already being not only developed, but tested, in labs around the world. One such lab at the University of Washington is at the forefront of what may be the next giant leap in mobile computing.
Admittedly the lenses that they have so far developed are quite limited, but they have achieved building a lens with a micro-LED powered wirelessly through RF. The team there are taking conventional contact lenses and turning them into functional AR systems with integrated control circuits, communication circuits, and miniature antennas. there next step will eventually be to include hundreds of LEDs, which will form images in front of your eyes. These could be anything from words to photographs.
So how close are we? Well, I may have exaggerated slightly, being able to pop in your AR Contact Lenses that allow you to fully access the web is a bit of a way off. Don't despair though, there are a number of extremely practical applications that are likely to happen long before that. Firstly, the technology does have the potential to provide vision enhancement to those that suffer from vision impairments, and it could even act as a simple warning system for those that are hearing impaired giving directional information about loud noises etc. Of course in the beginning the most likely situation is that the display and interface lenses will rely on a wearable portable-device that would feed the actual information through to the lenses.
Anyway, this is seriously exciting stuff in my opinion both in the short term and long term.
For further information see here
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Wispa Gold Where Have You Been?
Cadbury are bringing back Wispa Gold! That right folks, on the back of user-generated ad campaign, Cadbury are relaunching that oh so delicious caramel cousin of the Wispa. Having been off the market for so time now, Cadbury have teamed up with Fallon to bring Wispa Gold back in some serious style. Through the wispagoldmessages.com microsite, users have the chance to put messages up on billboards around the UK.
The campaign, which goes live on the 7th September, will give the public an opportunity to create custom messages that can be submitted for the chance to sit on one of hundreds of 48 sheets that have been specially purchased just for this campaign. The website itself boldly declares that "We've decided to give our advertising space to you guys as a thank you for all the love you've shown to Wispa. We have bought thousands of billboards all over the UK and Ireland so that you can share your special messages with the world. Yes, that's right, you let us know your special message and if it gets selected we will post it on a real billboard in the location of your choice. So if your mum lives in Birmingham you could post her a special message, say a poem, and we'll try to give you a site as near to her as possible."
The 48 sheets in question are located in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, Belfast, Plymouth, Brighton and Norwich.
Fallon have said that the whole idea for the campaign stems from their 2008 social media campaign that brought back the Wispa. The campaign in question resulted in the following TV ad starring hundreds of Wispa fans:
For your message, Cadbury want you to do anything except hold back. As they put it "If you want to do the creative bit yourself, that’s great". However, even if you're not the arty type, they have a team of people ready to take messages and turn them into lovely posters.
Entires can be submitted via email or online, but all entries must be in by 19th October.
Cadbury Wispa are also on Facebook and YouTube
Nokia and Mobile Banking
I recently noticed a lot of mentions about Nokia coming through on Google Alerts, and following that I've found that I've been spending quite a bit of time trying to figure out what happened to them and where they're going. It wasn't that long ago that Nokia were the Coca-Cola of the phone industry - they were the first choice of almost everyone and that did what they were meant to do brilliantly. Then something changed. Now Nokia seem to have slid quite a bit and many of their advocats have jumped ship to Apple or LG, or anyone of a host of alternative mobile phone manufacturers.
Having said that, they may just be on the verge of something really cool.
Nokia has announced that it will enter the mobile banking market. Following Nokia's recent purchase of a stake in mobile payments company Obopay, the mobile giant have confirmed they are ready to launch Nokia Money. The new service will allows users to access their finances in a number of innovative and convenient ways, while on the go. This will range from the ability to pay for products to checking balances, all using their mobile phones. In addition, the service will inable customers to make money transfers just by using another person's mobile number.
Initially the service will rely on traditional banks to provide the interface for customers to deposit and withdraw actual money, however Nokia have confirmed plans to build a network of Nokia Money agents. These will essentailly become banks, allowing customers to deposit or withdraw cash directly from their Nokia accounts.
While this may seem like a move completely out of the blue by many people, mobile banking is a concept that is actually relatively old in terms of mobile communication. Following the boom of digital networks in the early 90's, many futurologists predicted that mobile banking would be common place by the end of the decade. While they may have been slightly off in their predictions, Nokia now predict that mobile payments are key to bringing accessable banking to hundreds of millions of people in urban and rural locations, who are restricted by current payment systems that necessitate credit facilities (especially in emerging economies). Nokia say this is the next big thing in the financial services industry.
Mary McDowell, Nokia executive, said: "In many countries, mobile phone ownership significantly exceeds bank account usage, suggesting that many mobile phone users have very limited or no access to basic financial services. With more than 4 billion mobile phone users and only 1.6 billion bank accounts, global demand for access to financial services presents a strong opportunity to combine mobile devices with simple but powerful financial services such as Nokia Money."
The service will be rolling out in Germany this month (September), with a full launch planned for 2010 (depending on operators and markets).
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
YellowBird
Prepare to be seriously wowed! This is just about the most exciting, spine-tingling, stop-you-in-your-tracks visual technology I have seen EVER! I know 3D has come on leaps and bounds in recent years, but this for me just blows 3D away.
You'll be forgiven for thinking this looks similar to Google Streetview, because it does. However, the big difference with YellowBird is that it records video instead of photographs. Utilising six cleverly divided lenses, the camera can capture every possible viewing direction. The system doesn't hold anything back either, and through a double glass-fiber connection, it streams 1200 Mbit of information per second in raw uncompressed format. Of course no video is complete without sound so the system uses a surround sound microphone recording audio at 96 khz.
What makes the system even more remarkable is that, unlike the Google Car, the equipment can be worn on a person's back as the roam around your location. This opens up so much potential it's scary. Alternatively the system can also be mounted on a static or mobile tripod, mounted on a car or helicopter.
Now just hit play and enjoy...
apologies that the video is flowing over
unfortunately this is a non-scalable file format
YellowBird is a Dutch company founded by Marc Groothelm and Rafaël Redczus in March of this year (2009). The story, however, begins way back in 1999 when Rafaël launched a technology that allowed for the creation of still 3-D images. The technology was revolutionary to say the least and immediately attracted the attention of global brands such as Volkswagen, ABN-AMRO, Center Parcs, Big Brother and the Netherlands Railway.
Then 2 years later in 2001, Rafaël learnt about a new technology that could capture a moveable 3-D image as a spherical shape. Unfortunately the systems were expensive and required computers beyond the reach of your average person at the time. However, with the arrival of Flash 9, online video and 3-D exploded.
A short time later Marc and Rafaël met at Groningen University. From here the pair formed a dynamic partnership with Marc adding Strategy & Innovation to the mix, allowing them to drastically improve and couple these existing technologies.
The result is "a technologically advanced business that aims to claim a strong position in the international world of film, working directly for clients, and in partnership with advertising agencies and film production companies, offering the most intense film experience online today."
Audi Crowd Sourcing
Yesterday I wrote about Unilever's move with Peperami towards a full crowd sourcing model. In that case, Unilever went as far as to end a 15 year relationship with Peperami's advertising agency, Lowe. That was perhaps an extreme example of brands/businesses that are moving to a crowdsourcing model but it's certainly not an isolated occurance. Aside from Doritos and Pringles who were also both mentioned yesterday, Audi are the next big brand to step up to the table and call on their fans and customers to drive their coming developments.
The whole campaign has grown off this year’s Los Angeles Design Challenge, which is titled 'Youth Mobile 2030'. Design design studios from all over Southern California have been called on to submit their vision of what a 2030 customer will want.
Audi, who currently have more than 324,000 Facebook fans (making them one of the highest among auto brands), have partnered up with TurnHere, to create a video based campaign asking fans for their input on what features they want to see on future models. TurnHere produced videos profiling Audi's participation in the "Youth Mobile 2030" design challenge for its Facebook fan page. The videos show the overall participation that Audi have had in the design challenge. Essentially, they present a showcase of actual Audi designers sharing their own design philosophies and visions of the future, and describe how Audi wants to consider lifestyle, form and function for future designs.
The campaign will primarily be run through Facebook, and shows a real hands on application of the massive fanbase that the company have developed. This not only shows great use of an extremely valuable resource but also goes to reinforce the ideals of Social Media, as a brand goes back to its users and asks them what they want (ref. Vodafone Mission Red for a current Irish example of this).
“Video is a powerful way to experience the Audi brand and the passion of our design team. We wanted to show our Facebook fans that we’re committed to creating automobiles that fit our changing lifestyles; and having this conversation with them is a critical part of that process,” said Brad Stertz, Manager of Corporate Communications for Audi of America. “TurnHere did a great job of capturing that passion and desire in an authentic way that lets our designers start the conversation online among our fans."
Through the videos, fans are encouraged to participate in Team Audi's efforts by participating in the live discussion, giving feedback, and helping to answer the question 'How will your car play a role in keeping you connected to your digital world in the future?'
"Audi is using social media to excite its community and engage them in their brand and design process. Video is an integral element to showing the human side of any brand and creating a personal connection," said John McWeeny, COO at TurnHere. "Online video production is now very affordable, and more brands are able to use video to engage people on the social web."
Monday, August 31, 2009
Peperami Crowd Sourcing
In what may be seen as one of the biggest ad upsets of recent times, Unilever, the people behind Peperami, have made the decision to drop their Advertising Agency of 15 years, Lowe. Instead of using the traditional model of having an agency create your creative works, Unilever are handing over creative thinking to.... crowd sourcing.
So what is crowd sourcing I hear you ask?
Crowd Sourcing is not a new concept, either to adverting or Unilever, but it is a bold move to remove your agency of 15 years altogether. Crowd Sourcing is the concept of asking your fans / viewers / audience / customers to suggest or create you ads for you. Previous brands to use this approach have been Pringles and Doritos (Doritos Tribe). Both of which did so exceptionally well; both saving money and getting ads that ultimately blew everyone away.
In this instance, Peperami are launching a global search for their nexy big advertising concept through Ideabounty.com. Ideabounty.com is an online creative community, that invites the public to submit ideas for the next press and television ads. In return the brand is putting up $10,000 (£6,000) for the best idea.
Noam Buchalter, marketing manager at Peperami, says: “We believe Peperami is a brand that deserves radical creative solutions and are confident taking our brief out to thousands rather than a small team of creatives will provide us with the best possible idea and take our advertising to the next level. It’s a test to see if it works for the brand with a long-term view to using it in future advertising. We are extremely thankful to Lowe for the brilliant work they achieved over the last two decades and are looking forward to seeing the ideas to take Lowe's legacy forward into the next era of Animal."
The one caveat is that the brand wants to retain their iconic Peperami Animal character. So with that point satisfied, the winning entry will be produced by Smartworks. Going forward Unilever have said that they have no plans to retain a full-time ad agency for the Peperami account in future.
The campaign went live last Friday (28th August) and will close on 23rd October.
Doritos Tribe
This user-created ad was produced by two 25-year-olds for the reported sum of £6.50.
The Pererami Animal
Sunday, August 30, 2009
IKEA and Vedana
During the week, what may seem like a seemingly insignificant event, swept across the web creating a huge amount of debate and coverage. IKEA changed their font.
Seriously.
IKEA's signature Futura font has been replaced by the Verdana. For the last 50 years, IKEA have been using IKEA Sans, a customized version of Futura. However, for their new 2010 catalogue, IKEA have made a switch to the Verdana typeface. As it turns out, fans and designers are extremely unhappy with the change. On Wednesday, design consultant Marius Ursache even went as far as to create an online petition to stop IKEA from changing the font. So why did IKEA make the change and why are their such strong feeling over this?
In an interview with the Swedish design magazine Cap & Design, IKEA’s Ivana Hrdlickova said that IKEA's central reason for changing fonts was to allow the company to use the same typeface in all countries it currently operates in. IKEA's previous font Futura did not allow for Asian characters. As Verdana was designed for the web, it allows the company’s image to remain consistent online and in print. Unfortunately, that's also the main reason for the backlash. Verdana was never intended as a print typeface and was created purely for use on screen. Microsoft invented the font for shipping with Internet Explorer 3 in 1996.
Here are a selection of a few comments that have been made:
Simon l'Anson, a creative director in London, said "it has open, wide letterforms with lots of space between characters to aid legibility at small sizes on screen," but "it doesn't exhibit any elegance or visual rhythm when set at large sizes. It's like taking the family sedan off-road. It will sort of work, but ultimately gets bogged down."
Carolyn Fraser, a letterpress printer from Australia, said Verdana is "dumbed down and overused."
"They went cheap," said designer Iancu Barbarasa. "Designers have always thought of Ikea as one of their own, so now, in a way, the design community feels betrayed."
The issue has gained such coverage that Time Magazine have even covered the story. So what do you think? Does this change really make a noticeable difference?
VW Dudeism
Volkswagen have just launched a new advertising campaign to highlight their support of independent cinema. Their first ad features a man who has been so inspired by the film 'The Big Lebowski' that he has created a religion around The Dude. He feels that Jeff Bridges character provides a teaching "that is just right for this time and place".
Does it seem strange that there's no VW cars featured anywhere in the ad?
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The Sol Revolution
The summer may be almost over but there's plenty of fun still to be had before you pull your winter coat of off its hibernation. Sol Beer is currently running a great campaign over on its Sunshine Revolution website. Just for the fun of it, Sol are hosting a free gig in Pygmalion and the Powerscourt Centre on the 16th of September. The line will see Super Extra Bonus Party, The Chapters, Kormac Live and Tucan take to the stage in an evening of fun and revelry.
But wait, I hear you cry, did you say free? I did indeed say free. Just pop over to the site and register your details. Hey presto, mission complete.
The Sol Revolution are also busy promoting the whole event over on Twitter and Facebook. So get following and add yourself as a fan. If you're looking for more info on Sol you can check out the International Beers site or Wikipedia.
The Story of Sol
As Sol legend has it, it all began on a brisk, sunny morning way back at the very end of the 19th centuary. The year was 1899, and in an old lost forgotten factory near Mexico City, named “El Salto del Agua”, a German master brewer chanced upon a brewing pot illuminated by a ray of sunlight, falling in through a dusty window. The brewer stopped in his tracks, captivated by golden ray beaming across the room, pulling his attention to the pot. He decided this new beer would be named “El Sol” (The Sun), and so Mexico's most famous beer was born. Since then Sol has become a popular beer sold around the world, served in its distinctive clear flint bottle always with a wedge of lime.
Here's also a funny little video about the classic Mexican cerveza...
Nokia and The Future
Historically Nokia have always been the leader in the mobile phone market. They have nearly always had the largest range of phones, and have catered for everyone's wants and needs from high-tech high-end smartphones to basic call and text handsets. Basically Nokia made a lot of really clever moves early on in the early days of the mobile boom. Not bad for a company who's primary business as rubber and lumber!
Then something happened. Something changed in the mobile market and Nokia started to lose that historic first choice preference and users started looking to other handsets. The best example of this is the US mobile market. The US mobile market is probably the largest mobile market in the west, and certainly the most important.
Most articles I've read lately would have you believe that Nokia's single major failing has nothing to do with handsets or technology. As a provider Nokia has a huge suite of mobile devices. Nokia is falling down in the US due to a failure to partner with the US mobile networks, and to be honest Nokia's relationship with US mobile networks is well documented. But there's more to it then that. People want smaller, smarter, faster and completely integrated devices. They don't want to have to carry a laptop, a phone, a music player, a camera, an organiser etc. They want to have a device that offers all of these things. Nokia, however, are still approaching their devices from the position of building phones.
The most exciting thing to come to the mobile market in some time, is with out doubt the iPhone. The most important thing to realise about the iPhone is that, contrary to what its name would have you believe, it is not in fact a phone at all. The iPhone is a mobile mini computer that offers the ability to make phone calls, among a host of features.
Building phones is what is truly holding Nokia back. So how will Nokia effect such a change? How will Nokia achieve their goal of becoming "the largest interactive media network in the world."
Nokia's campaigns over the last year have all aimed to grow social media presence, facilitated by conversation. Nokia want people to use their technology to express and broadcast themselves. To support this, Nokia launched a web service called Ovi. Ovi allows Nokia users to get apps like Facebook, Twitter and Bebo for their Nokia phone. While this is far more expansive for smartphones such as the Nokia N97, there are options for even the simplest handset. Nokia have also made major inroads to developing their music offering. Fast Company's article Nokia Rocks the World: The Phone King's Plan to Redefine Its Business gives an overview of Nokia's recent musical advance and the following interview...
So mission accomplished? An app platform in place, partnerships established, advertising ready, and a strategy thought out - Nokia stand poised to take over the world once and for all?
Well not quite. Unfortunately there is a lot of fine tuning still to do for Nokia to accomplish their goal. Nokia's platform, Ovi, is far from brilliant. It is unintuitive and lacks any sort of dynamicism. Coupled with this, the efforts that Nokia are making "to counter music piracy and offer an easy music access service", don't actually address the fact that people want to listen to music on a music player, not on a phone. This brings me back to the point that Nokia are failing to recognise exactly what their competition is really offering.
Once Nokia realise that they need to make more then just phones, they may stand a chance of regaining the premier position they once held for mobile devices.
Friday, August 28, 2009
In The Twittersphere
Two interesting things popped up in the news yesterday involving Twitter. The first is news of the confirmed launch of a new book entitled 'Twitter Wit'. 'Twitter Wit' is a compilation of the funniest tweets posted to the service - essentailly a round-up of all the daft things that have been Tweeted since the sites launch. This of course includes Tweets written by a number of famous Tweeters such as comedian Stephen Fry. One of Fry's featured Tweets "London city airport. Where form meets function. AND THEY HAVE A FIGHT", gives a good insight into the comic yet clever messages that the site has delivered.
The book, which has been written by Nick Douglas (founding editor of Valleywag.com), has been fully endorsed by Twitter and even carries a foreword by the Twitter's co-founder Biz Stone. Stone commented that there was no financial arrangement with the publisher Harper Collins, but that they did love the book so much they bought copies for all their San Francisco employees.
Stone wrote on the company's blog: "The tweets [in 'Twitter Wit'] are irreverent, inappropriate, geeky, and pretty much hilarious. If you don't like one, you'll like the next."
As part of the books launch, Harper Collins have created a competition that challenges readers to perform one of five tweets featured in the book. Entrants will need to create a short video of their performance, with a winner being selected by Douglas. The prize is an iPod touch and a copy of the book.
In other news, another new publication (this time a website) pays tribute to Twitter. Woofer, which describes itself as a 'macroblogging' site allows users to boost their usual 140-character Tweets to gigantic 1,400-characters Woofs. Although Woofer is just a novelty site and openly bills itself as a homage to Twitter in the form of a Social Media experiment, it does already have 9,000 users.
The site itself looks almost identical to the Twitter homepage, with the exception of the huge 1,400 character countdown for your Woofs. Woofers (users) can send messages attributed to their Twitter names. Unlike Tweets, the site asks that Woofers "Be eloquent, use adverbs and DEA (don't ever abbreviate)."
The site does distinctly distance itself from Twitter, confirming a number of time that it has nothing to do with Twitter and even goes as far as to feature a link in the top navigation 'Is this Twitter?'. Clicking on this leads users to page that simply reads "No" in giant letters.
The site has been created by digital agency Join the Company.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Top 50 UK/Irish Marketing Blogs
The following list has been compiled from the AdAge Power150 Blog List. Shown is the blog's position both within the British Isles and globally. All Blogs highlighted are especially worth visiting. I am also delighted to add that Digitology comes in at 42 on the list.
this list is correct as of 2am 27th August 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The 5 Hottest Location-Based Apps
The guys over at Revolution have written a great post on the The 5 hottest location-based apps (so far). I have to say, each of these are spot on and I'd have to agree, seriously cool. If you're an iPhone user I hope you already have them but, if not, get over to the iTunes Store now!
1. Twitter
Twitter's location tags will let users view tweets by people in their city, neighbourhood or building or follow tweets from a particular event, concert or area of breaking news such as an earthquake zone. Small businesses could use the feature to target users in the immediate area offering deals and discounts.
Find out more
2. JustBought.It
JustBought.it is a social shopping app that lets you share photos and tweet about great shopping deals as you find them. The service is also used by shoppers looking for bargains in a particular area, or to ask other users for shopping advice.
http://justbought.it/
3. Wrrl v2.0
iPhone app Whrrl encourages users to combine photos, stories, and their location with the photos and stories of their friends to form a collective experience with greater depth than Twitter conversations and Facebook updates. You can see what's happening in your network, view your friends' updates on a map and add comments.
download Whrrl here
4. Wikinear
Wikinear figures out where you are and tells you the five most interesting locations near you using entries in Wikipedia and Google Maps. Useful when you're travelling or have moved to a new area and are keen to learn its history.
http://wikinear.com
5. Yowza!
Founded by Heroes star Greg Grunberg, Yowza! Capitalises on our eagerness to save money in the recession, using your location to automatically find and download exclusive discount vouchers from a range of retailers. Although only available on the iPhone in the US, the app will eventually roll-out to the UK.
http://getyowza.com
Censorship #FAIL
It wasn't so long ago that a number of NFL teams made the decision to stop their players from using Social Media (specifically Twitter). There is a fairly universal consensus that this is just nuts. Why would you feel the need to tell a professional football player that they weren't allowed to . I mean why stop there, why not ban them from using text messages? Well it would seem that college football can do them one better!
The NCAA's South Eastern Conference (a college football division) issued a new set of rules prohibiting fans from using any sort of Social Media at any game events - no Twitter feeds, no Facebook photos, no YouTube videos. The rules effectively banned Social Media from all its stadiums, prohibiting fans from recording video, audio or taking photographs. The policy was specifically designed to clamp down on bloggers and amateur sportswriters.
The official policy, which was released last Monday, set out that fans could not "produce or disseminate (or aid in producing or disseminating) any material or information about the event, including, but not limited to, any account, description, picture, video, audio, reproduction or other information concerning the event."
As you can imagine there was swift and immediate outrage with hundreds of fans going straight to the web to discuss the madness of the decision.
Thankfully the SEC had not consider the implications and impact that such a policy would have on the professional media organisations who cover the SEC season and drive large amounts of revenue. Less then 24 hours later the SEC received a letter of protest from three of the largest of these organisations. Unsurprisingly, the policy was very quickly withdrawn. What may have come as a surprise was the SEC's apology.
The SEC posted the following Tweet (I know, Tweet!!): "To our Twitter fans, we have heard you. We're working on clarifications to our policy and should have something done soon."
An SEC spokesman also commented, saying "The intent of the policy was never to eliminate social media" adding, "Twitter fans, please share the great times you have at our stadiums with your friends. We probably took traditional media rights language and tried to apply it in a new media world."
That may be the only smart thing that has come out of all this - "We probably took traditional media rights language and tried to apply it in a new media world". If only others would learn this.
So the revised policy now reads "personal messages of scores or other brief descriptions of the competition throughout the event are acceptable." However, games still can't be recorded on video, but pictures are allowed to be taken for personal use.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Cuil Real-Time Search
Over a year ago, on the 28th July 2008, Cuil went live. Surrounded by a lot of 'Google-killer' hype at the time, for many, Cuil's launch passed by virtually unnoticed. The 'Google-killer' tag that many attached to it was in fact incorrect, and Cuil was never going to be a 'Google-killer'. The major advantage that Cuil brought to the table was that it was managed and developed by former Google employees, Anna Patterson and Russell Power, and their CEO and co-founder, Tom Costello, had worked for IBM among others. This couple with the fact that Cuil boasted a larger index than any other search engine with over 120 billion web pages.
So over 12 months on, what is Cuil doing to gain ground on its rivals?
In what may be the smartest move the company has made to date, Cuil has announced the released of a real-time search feature, finally pushing it as a threatening alternative to Google, Facebook and Twitter. The advantage of real-time search is that you can instantly access what people are saying/thinking about live events as they unfold.
Cuil's new feature will generate a toolbar, indicating real-time results found. Through the toolbar, users can then explore a sample of results from news and blogs,with an indicator on each result showing the ‘hotness' of the topic. The toolbar can also be opened as a pop up box to act as a monitor on an ongoing basis.
Real-time search has been thrown around as the next big thing for a number of months, as both Facebook and Twitter continue to grow in leaps and bounds. The massive user bases that both services now attract may be enough to give them the edge in the race to create a truly real-time search engine that allows moment-by-moment trend analysis, but for now everything is still up to play for.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Stop-Motion Lego
There's no marketing connected to this video what-so-ever, I just thought it was really, really sweet.
The Hunt for Gollum Movie
A close friend emailed this over to me yesterday, and to say I was impressed would be a serious understatement. Pretty much everyone loves the Lord of the Rings movies, and they have been the inspiration for many fan-based projects. Unfortunately most of these are usually extremely low budget, low production value endeavours.
This, however, is very, very different. “The Hunt for Gollum”, a movie made by the fans, is a $3000 project that looks as professionally made as many million dollar Hollywood blockbusters. Everything from the lighting to the special effects are extremely good. The script for the movie comes from the appendices of the Lord of the Rings books themselves, pieced together into a coherent movie by writer and director Chris Bouchard. Chris was also responsible for putting together the cast and crew. All filming and post production was done in the UK.
The story follows the Heir of Isildur; the "greatest huntsman and traveller in Middle Earth" as he sets out to find the creature Gollum. The creature must be found to discover the truth about the Ring, and to protect the future Ring-bearer.
The movie is 40 minutes long and available to watch online for free. I seriously recommend giving it a go.
Playhouse at Liberty Hall
This Wednesday is the launch event for something really special taking place in Dublin next month. As part of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival, Daft.ie present Playhouse at Liberty Hall. Playhouse will transform Dublin’s tallest building into a giant digital canvas for all of us to play with and animate our thoughts across the city skyline.
From the 24th of September until the 11th of October 2009, Dublin's Liberty Hall will become a 50 metre, low-res, digital screen powered by 100,000 low-energy LED lights that operate in full 24-bit colour. The LEDs have been installed across the 330 windows of the south and west faces of the building effectively turning each window into a pixel for the giant display. From Wednesday (26th August), members of the public will be able to download a special bit of software that allows you to create animations (with sound and music) and submit them to be broadcast on Liberty Hall.
The 100,000 LEDS in use are super-efficient, and the whole project has a tiny power consumption. During the project each floor of the installation will use less energy than a standard kettle. The narrow strip of LEDs are installed along each window frame with a small control box. These control boxes then connect to a central computer through the existing CAT5 network in the building, therefore avoiding any additional wiring.
Ahead of the project the folks over at The Bubble have produced a behind the scenes look at exactly how all of this will work. This exclusive footage from last Wednesday (19th August) shows the LED system being tested for the first time. John Callaghan and Julien Clancy can be thanked for this great footage. The music they have used is from Solen.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Social Media Addicts Association
Are you one of the millions of web users who just don't know when to stop poking, to quit Tweeting or to take a break from Facebook. Then the Social Media Addicts Association is just what you need. Run by former social media addicts who have had the strength and courage to admit to their problem, the SMAA will help you leave alone all those people you haven’t seen since college, and possibly never really got on with anyway!
To start with you will need to follow the 5 steps to kicking the habit:
The SMAA is the latest viral campaign from Sony VAIO.
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