the brains trust

Bat baby to the rescue

2011-10-17T09:08:00.001+11:00

Bat baby to the rescue, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

That's not a real iPad

2011-02-10T13:53:00.000+11:00

Looks like someone at the Melbourne Library Service has used an Apple fan-boy’s mock-up image of an iPad instead of the real thing….

Casualty of verbal combat

2010-05-19T10:33:00.000+10:00

Casualty of verbal combat: "One of the least edifying elements of the way the modern media cover politics is the focus on the 'gaffe', the verbal slip that is supposed to reveal a politician's true intentions or incompetence, but rarely does."

Lunch time bliss

2010-05-17T13:36:00.003+10:00

A Le Normand baquette from Belgian Waffles at one end of the Degraves Street Subway & a large cafe latte from Cup of Truth from the other end of the Subway.

This could mean a few less Real Estate Agents

2010-05-17T13:12:00.000+10:00

Industry study shows brain tumour link to heavy mobile phone usage | The Australian

Ferris Lives

2010-05-17T12:56:00.000+10:00

Poker pro's Ferrari stolen from Crown Casino

Thin News from Airheads

2010-05-13T14:52:00.002+10:00

Good lord, the oxygen must be thin in Canberra.

The Canberra Herd have decided that Robo-Rudd on the 7:30 report had a dummy spit. Chucked a Latham.

Are they serious? Robo-Rudd really did his nana? Watch the clip.

No, I don't think so. Can't think of anyone who would ...except a desperate Opposition polly and the desperate little in-bred weirdos called Canberra correspondents. They don't care whether he did or not. As long as they can gossip about it. Hot Button, Keyword journalism.This is a shameless beat up to sell click and eyeballs. A lurid beat up to try spray something on the Most Colourless Man in Politics. It doesn't matter how irrelevant or inaccurate, they win either way. The Goldman Sachs of the Attention Economy.

Jeez, Robo-Rudd's temper must have reached reached lukewarm at least. Pathetic. We are only privy to the breathless reports of this nothing because it was on the Telly. How easy. How convenient. How insubstantial.

Bravo. Journalists give themselves awards because no one else would bother.

The Revolution

2010-04-27T15:19:00.000+10:00

Create Digital Music - The End of Laptop Hegemony in Live Computer Music: "Of course, the Revolution won’t necessarily be at the Apple Store. (Where’s Gil Scott-Heron when you need him? “The Revolution will not be presented in a keynote by Steve Jobs. The Revolution will not have an unboxing video. The Revolution will not be first seen in Williamsburg. The Revolution will not appear on Twitter.”)"

reality bytes - blurred lines between computer models & city landscapes

2009-11-15T13:25:00.005+11:00

The "high art" installation view - Peter Greenaway relights Da Vinci.

While Isabelle Hayeur, an artist from Montreal, simulates a fire in a "four-storey heritage building"

Projection on Buildings from NuFormer Digital Media on Vimeo.
Every surface is about to become a billboard - expect more of this at Olympic Games opening ceremonies.

Now photographs & filmed footage captured can be aligned with existing 3D models - and then relit. Soon to arrive on your GPS Sat Nav or your Phone/camera?

An Urban Sensation from DanFS on Vimeo.

What about if security footage of a neighbourhood was projected onto a 3D model of that neighbourhood?

Augmented reality TV - can you spot the gaps that have been interpolated? Do you care?

What if things were hidden?

Let's build models of things using crowdsourced photos as our dataset.

Die Kennedys

2009-09-27T20:24:00.001+10:00

Die Kennedys, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Bana - master of Fiction

2009-08-27T22:45:00.000+10:00

"Fascinatingly, it turned out that he was known in Australia for being a standup, an impressionist and a sketch show turn on a programme called Full Frontal. Briefly, he had his own show. A lot of Bana's early comedy stuff is online, and I think it stands up well. Here's Bana's impression of Tom Cruise, being interviewed in split-screen by his own character-creation, smarmy TV host Ray Martin"

Hilarious - a Guardian writer mistakenly thinks Ray Martin is an improbable Eric Bana creation. And so say all of us.

Ironic Iterations

2009-07-23T13:57:00.000+10:00

Presentation by Dennis Wingo on the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project at the 2009 Apple WWDC

2009-07-23T13:56:00.001+10:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Presentation by Dennis Wingo on the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project at the 2009 Apple WWDC

View more documents from kcowing.

Elgato turbo.264 HQ uploads to YouTube

2009-05-17T09:46:00.003+10:00

You don't have to get the HD version of Elgato's turbo.364 to add higher resolution videos to YouTube.

Use the Apple iPhone setting on your turbo.264 to convert your video.

The turbo's AppleTV settings create a higher resolution .mp4 file - just the sort that YouTube likes you to upload...

Apple TV Video:

H.264 Main profile, 3Mbps max, 800 x 600 max, 30 fps max.
Audio: AAC-LC, stereo, 128 Kbps, 48 kHz.

(Note: If the source movie is larger than 800 x 600, it will be scaled to fit within 800 x 600, preserving aspect ratio. Resolution is maintained if 800 x 600 or smaller. Frame rate is maintained when 30 fps and smaller.)

When using the Apple TV export, HDTV content will not retain its original resolution. HDTV content will be exported as 800 x 448.

When using the Apple TV export, SDTV content will retain its original resolution. 720 x 480 NTSC content will be exported as 720 x 480, for example.

Then upload it via your YouTube account page - do not use the built in YouTube options.

The uploaded video will then appear as a HQ version on YouTube - after it is processed.

Viewers will see the HQ version whenever their bandwidth allows and, when it doesn't, as a standard quality version.

After Gascoigne

2009-01-22T14:16:00.003+11:00

After Gascoigne, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

A Rosalie Gascoigne's retrospective is on at the NGV at Federation Square. Don't miss it.

GooRoom - a recipe to turn GoogleDocs into a distraction free writing space.

2009-01-19T13:02:00.003+11:00

DarkRoom, Dark Copy & WriteRoom promise you a standalone application to write in but I wanted something similar for GoogleDocs.

Here's the recipe: You'll need Greasemonkey for Firefox, then install these two scripts:

Done.

Henson Creatures III

2008-12-24T10:44:00.001+11:00

Henson Creatures III, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Ages ago - actually almost 2 years ago I photographed some mannequins in shop fitting store in Johnston Street, Collingwood.

I had the idea to manipulate them into a pastiche of Bill Henson’s photography – you know, naked teenagers, etc.

So after some post-production in Photoshop - faking a shallow depth of field, imposing real film grain, converting to low contrast black & white - I then put the wholes series on Flickr.

(Note that this is long before Bill Henson’s most recent notoriety.)

Lately, I’ve noticed that this photo in the series is one of my most viewed on Flickr. I’m not sure what conclusions I should draw from that?

Science Behind Mysterious 'Fifth Taste' Revealed | Wired Science from Wired.com

2008-12-23T16:19:00.000+11:00

Science Behind Mysterious 'Fifth Taste' Revealed | Wired Science from Wired.com: "Science Behind Mysterious 'Fifth Taste' Revealed
It's appetizing news for anyone who's ever wanted the savory taste of meats and cheeses without actually having to eat them: chemists have identified molecular mechanisms underlying the sensation of umami, also known as the fifth taste."

Digital Urban: Urban Circus: The Urban Engine Real-Time Demo

2008-12-16T16:56:00.000+11:00

Digital Urban: Urban Circus: The Urban Engine Real-Time Demo: "The ability to fly real-time through a scene is without question one of the most important aspects of city models for urban planning / architectural visualisation when aiming to communicate 'non fixed' design decisions. Highly rendered fly through movies can often alienate the public at large as it seems as if planning decisions have already been taken, leaving the renderings to come across as sometimes little more than marketing movies."

Current Reading - Gatsby as a Graphic Novel - 1

2008-11-12T08:34:00.001+11:00

Current Reading - Gatsby as a Graphic Novel - 1, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Campana Brothers - Furniture Slideshow

2008-11-12T08:32:00.000+11:00

Your browser doesn't support embeded html pages

Greenhouse by Joost at Fed Square

2008-11-09T21:56:00.001+11:00

Campana Brothers at ACCA

2008-11-02T13:33:00.002+11:00

Campana Brothers at ACCA, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

October 29, 6:30pm - The Boys from Brazil, the exuberant Campana Brothers, gave a talk at the Australian Centre of Contemporary Art on their designs, heritage, methods & inspirations.

Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over' | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

2008-10-06T11:57:00.001+11:00

WASHINGTON, DC–Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that 'our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over.'

This prescient joke has been on my mind for the last couple of days.

Gravity + Grace

2008-10-06T08:31:00.003+11:00

Gravity+Grace are a furniture/homeware stores with some unique Scandinavian & English stock.
297 Swan Street, Richmond

Grey Culture

2008-10-05T14:07:00.002+11:00

The consequences of investing skills in machines, and not people, is a culture in which there will be competence but no expertise. An unimaginative culture, but even worse an incompetent culture; a culture that lacks the ability of doing what is really the most sophisticated and successful and appropriate thing in each situation. Our culture will lack this if we try to embody human skills into machines, as if they were mental skills. We would have a culture without finesse and without wisdom. It would be a very boring, administrative, routine, technocratic horrible culture. Not good or bad; just grey.
Hubert Dreyfuss

Trailers & Clips: WALL•E - Ben Burtt

2008-09-19T08:56:00.002+10:00

Trailers & Clips: WALL•E - Ben Burtt

Weirdly pointless interview with legendary sound designer Ben Burtt by Rotten Tomatoes Australia. Burtt talks about his work and his interview is interspersed with clips from the movie WALL-E. Do we get to actually hear the sounds he has created for the movie? Nope. Just his interview laid over it.

And I thought advertising was art... not!

2008-09-19T08:31:00.004+10:00

Found via various links at this rather excellent blog.

Gorman's Organic Ship Shop

2008-09-18T21:58:00.000+10:00

Your snooze button has just got location aware

2008-09-08T12:58:00.000+10:00

Wake Me At is an iPhone application that tracks your position and wakes you up before you get to your destination.

Preloaded with 2600 train stations in the UK
Create desinations using either your current location or manually inputting co-ordinates
Choose sensitivity/proximity level from 1km - 10km

Scientists warn of fatal superbug 'epidemic' | theage.com.au

2008-09-08T11:36:00.000+10:00

Scientists warn of fatal superbug 'epidemic' | theage.com.au: "Of particular concern is a new virulent form of the flesh-eating bug that can lead to a severe form of pneumonia that causes death in up to 50% of cases. Unlike hospital-acquired MRSA, which affects mostly elderly patients, the community strain of the bug carries far more toxic genes and can be picked up in communal settings."

Er, I'm more worried about the flesh-eating part than the "can lead to pneumonia" part.

Nothing in store

2008-09-08T11:16:00.003+10:00

Three musical artists I like are bypassing regular distribution & selling their music online:

Eno & Byrne have re-united for another album - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today - with sublime, ecstatic vocals by Byrne.

Girl Talk lets you name your own price when you buy his latest epic sampler - Feed the animals.

Parallox (a new retro electro synth duo) have a shopping cart ready for their debut album.

9: The Biolympiad - A4: Crimes of the Future

2008-08-11T09:00:00.001+10:00

Every four years I get to remind the world of my 1992 prophecy:

A4: Crimes of the Future

Untitled mug

2008-08-01T13:45:00.000+10:00

You don't have to be crazy to work here... we'll train you.

I am the genius who saved Microsoft from extinction BUT...

2008-08-01T09:01:00.002+10:00

Okay, I can take credit for this. I have saved Microsoft's bacon. My idea that MS should do nothing but re-market Vista has actually been taken up by Redmond and with some success. So Windows still has some life in it. Now I just have to live with the guilt.

Windows "Mojave" advertisements appear in the wild: "Windows 'Mojave' advertisements appear in the wild

By Emil Protalinski | Published: July 31, 2008 - 12:59PM CT

The 'Mojave Experiment' was a marketing idea that Microsoft put into action two weeks ago, and it received a huge amount of coverage because its message was so simple. Over the course of three days, Microsoft showed 120 Mac, Linux, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 users in San Francisco an HP Pavilion DV 2000 with 2GB of RAM that ran a 'new' version of Windows codenamed 'Mojave.' When asked about their experiences with Mojave, over 90 percent said they were impressed with what they saw; Microsoft then told them they had actually been using Windows Vista all along."

An unfortunate turn of phrase

2008-07-28T11:12:00.002+10:00

Alan Jones has been given an initial thumbs up by doctors after surgery to treat prostate cancer.

If Marketing had to redesign the Stop sign...

2008-07-28T10:09:00.000+10:00

Instincts

2008-07-24T11:18:00.001+10:00

This discussion of brands can apply to almost any ongoing creative enterprise - from a TV series to a web site:
Instincts

Excerpt: Chapter 5 - A Brand's Worst
(and Next Worst) Enemies

From Brand: It Ain't the Logo*
(*It's what people think of you™)

The enemies of Brand consistency lurk everywhere. Worst are "Old Friends" - the people inside the organization who are so tired of their own messaging, they assume everyone else is too. Old Friends will agree to any new Brand message ideas that come along, just to get away from their same old Brand position or incessant jingle. They're the people at Coca-Cola "Coca-Cola" who are sick and tired of giving (or receiving) another red t-shirt; the folks at Energizer "Energizer" who'd just as soon blow up that bunny as see him or hear his incessantly beating drums...

They'd just as soon blow up that bunny.

Even more entrenched than the MarineLand "MarineLand" jingle was Canadian Tire "Canadian Tire"'s brilliant "Give Like Santa - Save Like Scrooge" campaign that ran like clockwork every Christmas for eons, all across Canada, on TV and in print. I was flabbergasted when Canadian Tire killed it. It was a bona fide Christmas tradition and bought the Brand instant, positive mindshare for the calendar's most profitable shopping season. Funny: they'd just hired a new ad agency from Chicago - and if Old Friends are a Brand's Worst Enemies, who are the Next Worst? That's right: "New Friends."

Together, Old Friends and New Friends conspire to destroy consistency, your most powerful Brand building tool. They're an especially virulent problem as your firm grows. As more and more people make decisions that affect your company and Brand, it becomes tougher to be consistent because the new blood in your organization - an unholy alliance of new staff and outside creative suppliers - is chomping at the bit to make its mark. Old Friends - those longtime employees so bored with your Brand message that they're dying for a change - are their easy prey, eager to act as accomplices...

Communicate to those folks who seem to be itching for a change that Brand consistency is good not just for the business, but for them. Tell them that the way to make a mark is not by changing the Brand message but by helping solidify it. Challenge your creative suppliers to do fresh, not new. And say a polite goodbye to the ones trying to sell you change for its own sake...

Show Art not Ads

2008-07-22T11:56:00.001+10:00

About Add-Art | Add-Art: "Add-Art is a free FireFox add-on which replaces advertising on websites with curated art images. The art shows are updated every two weeks and feature contemporary artists and curators. Learn more about Add-Art or install it now (instructions). Screencast below..."

Two points - the Firefox extension is really replacing one form of promotion for another.

The plug-in's emphasis on the curator guarantees lots of of art-waffle like: "focuses on the work of Austrian feminist actionist artist Valie Export. Export challenged objectification of the female form by confronting voyeurs with a body that returned their gaze."

Sigh and then contrast with:

Seth's Blog: The web doesn't care: "Here's the essential truth:

This is the first mass marketing medium ever that isn't supported by ads.

If a newspaper, a radio station or a TV station doesn't please advertisers, it disappears. It exists to make you (the marketer) happy.

That's the reason the medium (and its rules) exist. To please the advertisers.

But the Net is different.

It wasn't invented by business people, and it doesn't exist to help your company make money."

Apple heads for the clouds

2008-07-22T11:33:00.006+10:00

Are iPods and iPhones are being used as trojan horses for Apple to install a Safari-based framework for a web-cloud operating system on PCs?

"Apple.com Redesign Emulates OS Functionality | The Apple Blog: "Those of us already rocking OS X may have taken notice (although possibly subconsciously) of the website features that tend to mimic our favorite operating system. But the really ingenius point here is that users who are yet to make The Switch are already being introduced to some of the functionality they’ll find in OS X. There may not be anything earth-shattering, but opening up your first Mac and seeing something familiar in an otherwise foreign operating system can be a very welcome feeling. And that’s really what Apple’s all about, isn’t it?"

lonelysandwich - Why Me?: "Now, it its third and most important phase, Apple has literally removed the “Mac” from its online counterpart in an effort to make the Apple user experience a platform-agnostic one. Take a look at the MobileMe Guided Tour video on Apple’s site. You may notice that every bit of the demo of MobileMe’s browser-based application is shown from the Safari browser on the Windows Vista platform. The video shows you navigation through a hierarchical file structure in the new iDisk with fluid graphics and beautiful buttons that look unlike the Aqua buttons of the Mac OS and it takes a moment to realize that the demo you’re watching is not being done on a Mac. Think about this for a second. Apple is removing the Mac from the Apple computer experience and laying the foundation for a browser-based OS, the thing that Google has been threatening all this time. Of course, it’s not a new idea; for a while, everyone has assumed that this is where the trend is taking us. But it’s never been clearer how we’re getting there."

Apple "sneaks" MobileMe prefs into Windows via iTunes update: "Apple 'sneaks' MobileMe prefs into Windows via iTunes update

Here are your MobileMe preferences, sir. I'm very, very sneaky, sir. While MobileMe preferences are built-in to Mac OS X 10.5.4, making setting up the various syncing options a breeze, the same isn't true of Windows. To make the experience as simple as it is on a Mac, Apple has apparently chosen to include the control panel as part of the installer for iTunes 7.7, which is required to sync with an iPhone. However, the move has surprised many Windows users that do not use MobileMe, and has spurred a number of comparisons to the Software Update-Safari 3 kerfuffle from earlier this year."

Dick's new blog

2008-07-18T08:22:00.003+10:00

My old friend, Richard Szymczuk (of Lost Highways fame) has created a blog for his striking illustrations.

Opinion: How Microsoft can turn the negative Vista PR tide

2008-07-14T11:57:00.000+10:00

Opinion: How Microsoft can turn the negative Vista PR tide: "The company has already said that we should expect Windows 7 by early 2010 and it will have the same high hardware requirements that are needed to run Vista. But in two years, those 'steep' hardware requirements won't be nearly as expensive, meaning that Windows 7 could look relatively lightweight and speedy compared to Vista at launch."

Here's an idea. Maybe Microsoft should do nothing for two years. Then resell Vista under a different name. Problem solved.

Fields of vision

2008-07-14T10:28:00.000+10:00

Rice art lasts only a season.

Salty sausage sangers under attack - National - theage.com.au

2008-07-11T09:15:00.002+10:00

Salty sausage sangers under attack - National - theage.com.au: Salty sausage sangers under attack

The iconic Aussie sausage sanger has been hauled over the coals for its 'extreme salt content' in a new review showing the bread and everything inside it blows sodium guidelines.

The product review found that one single sausage sandwich at a barbecue contains an adult's daily recommended dose of salt, and double that suggested for a child.

Researchers reviewed almost 200 sausage, bread and sauce products found on supermarket shelves and found the vast majority exceed acceptable salt levels set in the UK.

Classic example pole-vault journalism - with the local expert leeching publicity by attaching their issues to the AAP story. All to capture our eyeballs and sell another ad exposure. Sheesh.

How Starbucks' Growth Destroyed Brand Value - John Quelch

2008-07-08T11:56:00.000+10:00

How Starbucks' Growth Destroyed Brand Value - John Quelch: "None of this need have happened if Starbucks had stayed private and grown at a more controlled pace. To continue to be a premium-priced brand while trading as a public company is very challenging. Tiffany faces a similar problem. That’s why many luxury brands like Prada remain family businesses or are controlled by private investors. They can stay small, exclusive and premium-priced by limiting their distribution to selected stores in the major international cities."

When media habits collide

2008-07-07T11:35:00.001+10:00

As a regular reader of Garr Reynold's Presentation Zen blog, I was happy to hear him on Radio National's By Design - a podcast of which I am a regular listener...

RN By Design - 5July2008 - Perfecting PowerPoint and presentation: "Perfecting PowerPoint and presentation

"Garr Reynolds is one of the leading lights in the world of PowerPoint presentations, and the world of communications. He has a number of clients in the Fortune 500. Find out how Steve Jobs (CEO Apple) perfected his communication skills, and why Bill Gates (founder Microsoft) still has a lot of lessons to learn. And what's design got to do with all of this?"

Message for Sarah Connor

2008-07-05T09:57:00.001+10:00

Message for Sarah Connor, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Lego R2D2

2008-07-04T15:53:00.002+10:00

Lego R2D2, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Artifact with artificial artifacts.

Current Reading: The Second Plane by Martin Amis

2008-07-04T13:07:00.001+10:00

Current Reading: The Second Plane by Martin Amis, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Divine web design

2008-07-02T12:58:00.004+10:00

Nice to see some really old school design principals being applied to web design.

White Van Man - 12

2008-06-23T08:29:00.001+10:00

White Van Man - 12, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

White Van Man - 11

2008-06-09T12:25:00.001+10:00

White Van Man - 11, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

White Van Man - 10

2008-06-01T18:55:00.001+10:00

White Van Man - 10, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Panorama: North Wharf

2008-06-01T18:52:00.010+10:00

You can view the QTVR version here

Panorama: Webb Bridge, Docklands

2008-06-01T18:52:00.009+10:00

You can view the QTVR version here

Panorama: Cargo Lane, Docklands

2008-06-01T18:51:00.005+10:00

You can view the QTVR version here

White Van Man - 09

2008-05-20T19:42:00.002+10:00

White Van Man - 09, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

It's been ages. What say we DO THE RANDOMIZER right here, right now! | Word Magazine

2008-04-25T13:37:00.002+10:00

It's been ages. What say we DO THE RANDOMIZER right here, right now! | Word Magazine: "this remains the one true home of THE RANDOMIZER, the only music survey that isn't just an exercise in making yourself look good.

These are the rules, arrived at by the board of management and rigorously enforced. You take your iPod or iTunes or the MP3 software of your choice, put it on 'random' or 'shuffle' and then read off the first five (5) tunes that appear. I shall begin:
Clarence Carter: Soul Deep
Girls Aloud: Sound Of The Underground
Blind Willie McTell: Running Me Crazy
Psychedelic Furs: Pretty In Pink
Sufjan Stevens: Romulus

Cheat and we will know. Everyone will know. Small children will refuse to smile at you. Urchins will openly laugh at you in the street. Your hard drive will crash."

Right-o. Here's Mine:

Not Dead Yet - Pino Donaggio (Body Double soundtrack)
Every Night I Die at Miyagi's - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Babylon's Burning - The Ruts
Promised Land (Longer Version) - The Style Council
Kelper - Delia Derbyshire

White Van Man - 08

2008-04-25T09:05:00.001+10:00

White Van Man - 08, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

No Country for Video Part 3

2008-04-19T13:54:00.001+10:00

Looks like Google Operating System has a way around a way of getting around You Tube’s viewer restrictions…

White Van Man - 07

2008-04-18T20:10:00.002+10:00

White Van Man - 07, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

olympic-torch mark II

2008-04-12T08:17:00.001+10:00

olympic-torch mark II, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

White Van Man - 06

2008-04-11T09:41:00.002+10:00

White Van Man - 06, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Williamstown Pier - regimental clouds

2008-04-11T09:35:00.002+10:00

Williamstown Pier - regimental clouds, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

St Jerome's Alley Festival

2008-04-09T16:33:00.006+10:00

>>>

A video I have just added to Flickr who - as of today - now do video.

(I edited the footage from late February just 5 days ago & tried to add to Google Video without any success. Flickr to the rescue.)

Shot with my mobile on February 28. Music created in Garageband with iDrum.

The weird pixel smearing & ghosting has appeared in the uploaded version. Which I kinda like.

White Van Man - 05

2008-04-05T10:12:00.002+11:00

White Van Man - 05, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Docklands panoramas

2008-04-04T13:43:00.003+11:00

View the QTVR version here

White Van Man - 04

2008-03-28T17:18:00.002+11:00

White Van Man - 04, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Another panorama: MFB & Citylink

2008-03-23T13:49:00.001+11:00

View the QTVR version here

No Country For Video - Part 2

2008-03-21T11:18:00.001+11:00

No country for BBC, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

But the BBC won't let me...

No Country For Video - Part 1

2008-03-21T11:17:00.001+11:00

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself., originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

I wanted to watch this... 'cos the BBC let's me listen to the audio podcast.

White Van Man - 03

2008-03-21T11:11:00.002+11:00

White Van Man - 03, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

An End User License Agreement to love

2008-03-19T12:48:00.002+11:00

Simplicity

2008-03-15T07:51:00.001+11:00

Simplicity

White Van Man 2

2008-03-14T09:29:00.002+11:00

Citizen Kane

2008-03-09T10:05:00.003+11:00

Citizen Kane, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

One of my photos that was recently
favourited by a Flickr person.

White Van Man 1

2008-03-07T16:42:00.002+11:00

First of a weekly ongoing series.

Clever or dumb ad placement?

2008-03-05T14:10:00.002+11:00

Created with Skitch from plasq - http://plasq.com

St Jerome's Laneway Festival 2008

2008-02-24T14:02:00.001+11:00

Melbourne's fabled lane-way culture is now being privatised.

My Lo-fi Google Maps Mashup

2008-02-17T11:53:00.015+11:00

While trying to get some idea of the scale of some foreign destinations, I came up with this lo-fi way to mashup two Google Maps:

Start by printing out a Google Map of an area you know well. Print it onto overhead transparency... Make sure it is printed 100% of the screen size.

The chosen scale:

In this case the map is of the Melbourne CBD...

Once printed you can lay this over any Google map that uses the same scale and immediately get an idea of the walking & travelling distances involved.

1. An overhead transparency print of the Melbourne Google Map laid out over the ON-SCREEN version - tight fit, eh?

2. The same maps out of alignment - just to show how close they are...

3. A Google Map of London (set at the same scale as the Melbourne Map used for the overhead transparency.)

4. The Melbourne map transparency overlaid on the onscreen London map.

Instant scale! Happy travels.

Rationing equaled better nutrition...

2008-01-27T10:38:00.001+11:00

(World War Two) ... made food worse, and rationing completed the brutalisation of the the English palate. But there was something else: guilt. For the first time, most people were eating properly, because the available food was shared by rationing, and this bought home powerfully just how unfair the pre-war society had been...

Last Chance to Eat: The Fate of Taste in a Fast Food World by Gina Mallet.

Rise of the nebulous

2008-01-23T17:24:00.001+11:00

Jason Salavon - Every Playboy Centerfold, The 1970s

From a broader series begun in 1997, the photographs in this suite are the result of mean averaging every Playboy centerfold foldout for the four decades beginning Jan. 1960 through Dec. 1999. This tracks, en masse, the evolution of this form of portraiture.

Waffle, waffle, waffle. Automated autism anyone? Now, I don't mind the image but spare me the curatorial waffle.

MAKE your own HUD with Stickies

2008-01-23T08:55:00.001+11:00

1. Create your note - here I have pasted two screenshots (made using
Skitch) into a white note.

2. Select the Floating Window & Translucent Window options from the Note menu.

3. Voila! Say hello to your very own happy floating info window.

Facebook Backlash

2008-01-18T14:51:00.001+11:00

With Friends like these... Tom Hodgkinson of the Guardian doesn't like Facebook

...The creators of the site need do very little bar fiddle with the programme. In the main, they simply sit back and watch as millions of Facebook addicts voluntarily upload their ID details, photographs and lists of their favourite consumer objects. Once in receipt of this vast database of human beings, Facebook then simply has to sell the information back to advertisers, or, as Zuckerberg puts it in a recent blog post, "to try to help people share information with their friends about things they do on the web". And indeed, this is precisely what's happening. On November 6 last year, Facebook announced that 12 global brands had climbed on board. They included Coca-Cola, Blockbuster, Verizon, Sony Pictures and Condé Nast. All trained in marketing bullshit of the highest order, their representatives made excited comments along the following lines:

"With Facebook Ads, our brands can become a part of the way users communicate and interact on Facebook," said Carol Kruse, vice president, global interactive marketing, the Coca-Cola Company.

"We view this as an innovative way to cultivate relationships with millions of Facebook users by enabling them to interact with Blockbuster in convenient, relevant and entertaining ways," said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster chairman and CEO. "This is beyond creating advertising impressions. This is about Blockbuster participating in the community of the consumer so that, in return, consumers feel motivated to share the benefits of our brand with their friends."

"Share" is Facebookspeak for "advertise". Sign up to Facebook and you become a free walking, talking advert for Blockbuster or Coke, extolling the virtues of these brands to your friends. We are seeing the commodification of human relationships, the extraction of capitalistic value from friendships.

Well, it's about time there was a Facebook backlash...

Of course, what really gets up so many noses is when the latest internet sensation INEVITABLY becomes a dinner party held at McDonalds. Oh, we feel so used when they start shoving advertising into our cool electronic idylls.

So how can anything stay exclusive when it is made for a Tupperware universe built on turning curiosity into habit & eyeballs into sales. The web is not built for exclusivity and nor can the Flickrs, Myspaces and Facebooks, etc, ever be sold to the Media Giant on this basis - no, it's the number of views & the number of users that create the overnight millionaires.

Simon is: off to a First Life bank to cash the cheque.

And so in the gloom of a darkened room , sitting alone, you have to wonder about the millions who are doing the same - not drowning but waving from our new lonely hermetic, electronic dungeons. They call it the social web not a social life.

Another panorama: Wattle St Car Park Roof

2008-01-18T09:01:00.001+11:00

You can view the QTVR version here

The Library has a posse

2008-01-17T21:34:00.001+11:00

Created with Skitch from plasq - http://plasq.com

A Help Menu with a difference

2007-12-10T11:27:00.002+11:00

Created with Skitch from plasq - http://plasq.com

10 Great Railway Journeys in 10 Days - Day 10

2007-10-11T07:44:00.002+10:00

#10 The Worry Line, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

#10 The Worry Line

10 Great Railway Journeys in 10 Days - Day 9

2007-10-10T15:12:00.002+10:00

#09 Vicious Circle, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

#09 Vicious Circle

10 Great Railway Journeys in 10 Days - Day 8

2007-10-09T07:58:00.002+10:00

#08 Kharma Circus, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

#08 Kharma Circus

10 Great Railway Journeys in 10 Days - Day 7

2007-10-08T10:10:00.002+10:00

#07 The Loop, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

#07 The Loop

10 Great Railway Journeys in 10 Days - Day 6

2007-10-07T09:25:00.002+10:00

#06 The Same Old Line, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

#06 The Same Old Line

10 Great Railway Journeys in 10 days - Day 5

2007-10-06T09:36:00.002+10:00

#05 The Peristaltic Line, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

05 The Peristaltic Line - Language warning

10 Great Railway Journeys in 10 days - Day 4

2007-10-05T07:33:00.002+10:00

#04 The Common Line, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

#04 The Common Line

10 Great Railway Journeys in 10 Days - Day 3

2007-10-04T07:55:00.002+10:00

#03 The Philip Michael Thomas Line, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

#03 The Philip Michael Thomas Line

10 Great Railway Journeys in 10 days - Day 2

2007-10-03T10:53:00.002+10:00

#02 The Aging Line, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

#02 The Aging Line

10 Great Railway Journeys in 10 days - Day 1

2007-10-02T09:44:00.002+10:00

#01 The Pastures Green Line, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Journey #01: The Pastures Green Line

Graffiti. Colour your city. - 1

2007-09-24T07:28:00.002+10:00

Graffiti. Colour your city. - 1, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

This ad will self destruct in one summer

2007-08-29T13:00:00.002+10:00

Erosive advertising, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

Clever contextual advertising by a pooch pampering company - a complimentary drink dish outside a shop.

Except the vinyl lettering just can't cut it...

Censored

2007-08-26T10:21:00.002+10:00

Censored, originally uploaded by One Thousand Words.

When the Yellowglen Girls first appeared, it was above the headline "Seriously Bubbly". The photos of the girls were relatively natural - with an emphasis on warm, smiling, coy faces with quirky expressions. The girls were attractive but not glamourpusses. They were more Audrey Tatou than Jennifer Hawkins, if you will...

Alas, no more. In the same way that all female Channel Nine newsreaders "trend to blonde", with each passing year the Golden girls have been trending to bling - and are now selected as part of a nationwide "Bubbly Girl Search" competition.

This process automatically weeds out the interesting individual faces and reduces the pool of faces to the the usual sort of girls who enter "Miss Whatever"competitions. And now, with the photos being heavily retouched, the girls are within an inch of being indistinguishable from caramel custard...

I'd like to get the campaign's original talent and put them in the next round of the competition. My bet is they wouLdn't make it.

A victory for PR gals & for the young ad guys who want to meet young models but...

the brains trust

Bat baby to the rescue

That's not a real iPad

Casualty of verbal combat

Lunch time bliss

This could mean a few less Real Estate Agents

Ferris Lives

Thin News from Airheads

The Revolution

reality bytes - blurred lines between computer models & city landscapes

Die Kennedys

Bana - master of Fiction

Ironic Iterations

Presentation by Dennis Wingo on the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project at the 2009 Apple WWDC

Elgato turbo.264 HQ uploads to YouTube

After Gascoigne

GooRoom - a recipe to turn GoogleDocs into a distraction free writing space.

Henson Creatures III

Science Behind Mysterious 'Fifth Taste' Revealed | Wired Science from Wired.com

Digital Urban: Urban Circus: The Urban Engine Real-Time Demo

Current Reading - Gatsby as a Graphic Novel - 1

Campana Brothers - Furniture Slideshow

Greenhouse by Joost at Fed Square

Campana Brothers at ACCA

Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over' | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Gravity + Grace

Grey Culture

Trailers & Clips: WALL•E - Ben Burtt

And I thought advertising was art... not!

Gorman's Organic Ship Shop

Your snooze button has just got location aware

Scientists warn of fatal superbug 'epidemic' | theage.com.au

Nothing in store

9: The Biolympiad - A4: Crimes of the Future

Untitled mug

I am the genius who saved Microsoft from extinction BUT...

An unfortunate turn of phrase

If Marketing had to redesign the Stop sign...

Instincts

Excerpt: Chapter 5 - A Brand's Worst(and Next Worst) Enemies

From Brand: It Ain't the Logo*(*It's what people think of you™)

Show Art not Ads

Apple heads for the clouds

Dick's new blog

Opinion: How Microsoft can turn the negative Vista PR tide

Fields of vision

Salty sausage sangers under attack - National - theage.com.au

How Starbucks' Growth Destroyed Brand Value - John Quelch

When media habits collide

Message for Sarah Connor

Lego R2D2

Current Reading: The Second Plane by Martin Amis

Divine web design

White Van Man - 12

White Van Man - 11

White Van Man - 10

Panorama: North Wharf

Panorama: Webb Bridge, Docklands

Panorama: Cargo Lane, Docklands

White Van Man - 09

It's been ages. What say we DO THE RANDOMIZER right here, right now! | Word Magazine

White Van Man - 08

No Country for Video Part 3

White Van Man - 07

olympic-torch mark II

White Van Man - 06

Williamstown Pier - regimental clouds

St Jerome's Alley Festival

White Van Man - 05

Docklands panoramas

White Van Man - 04

Another panorama: MFB & Citylink

No Country For Video - Part 2

No Country For Video - Part 1

White Van Man - 03

An End User License Agreement to love

Simplicity

White Van Man 2

Citizen Kane

White Van Man 1

Excerpt: Chapter 5 - A Brand's Worst
(and Next Worst) Enemies

From Brand: It Ain't the Logo*
(*It's what people think of you™)