New Phones

Lots of hype at the minute as to whether the new Blackberry, or Nokia is going to compete with the infamous I-Phone ? Interesting video from BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7649397.stm

Goat 'condoms' ?!

Maasai herdsmen in Kenya have turned to an age-old contraceptive device, the "olor", to protect their precious goat herds from an ongoing drought.

The olor is made from cowhide or a square piece of plastic, and is tied around the belly of the male goat.

It prevents the bucks from mating with the female goats.

The herdsmen are using the device to limit the goat population and ensure there are not too many animals grazing on sparse vegetation.

"We don't want them to breed in this drought," says Mr Ole Ngoshoi Kipameto, a goat owner in Kajiado district.

If onyl those 16 year old girls in the suburbs of most UK cities took note.

Stevie Wonder

Have to mention that the Stevie Wonder gig i went to on Wendesday night was awesome. He's still got it. Played all the classics, and is without doubt an absolute pro when it comes to performances. Puts a lot of new bands, musicians to shame.

Hero!

Monetizing Facebook

Facebook has had an ongoing problem of monetizing their product. They have been pushing their integrated products, which have proved successful ocassionally, they have also outsources the standard display inventory to MSN. Not only that, but they have also outsourced their Social-aps display inventory to Ad - Knowledge. Whats left for Facebook ? Will they finally create a financially rewarding / affective ad solution?

Tim Kendall, Facebook’s director of monetization, outlines some of the new social ad schemes Facebook will be rolling out. Currently, Facebook users are shown ads specific to their interests and profile data. But in the next 6 to 12 months:

“Marketers will be able to pay to accelerate usage they find valuable, to dial up and down actions that people take on applications, as part of the Social Ads program. For instance, News Feed uses an algorithm to communicate a users actions to the friends who would find it most interesting. Marketers will be able to pay for increased or enhanced distribution above and beyond what News Feed already provides.”


What does this mean?

The algorithm that Facebook has implemented to determine your closest friends can easily be translated into a marketing tool, with Facebook charging advertisers to get your positive messages about their products sent to as many people as they would like.

Brand integration / advocacy / endorsment is the holy grail for this platform. Will it work? Will it piss the users off, even more that the ridiculous amount of 'App' invites we get daily?; Who knows.

As anything, If done well it'll succeed. Reminds me of the 'Viral' platform, every client wants a piece of it, but when it comes down to the investment behind it and what it actual achieves is miles apart.

Digitize that wax.

Thousands of recordings that had been largely consigned to the realm of prehistory in the digital age have gained a new life, thanks to the tireless efforts of one man.

Cliff Bolling didn't realize what he was getting into when he picked up a copy of the first record he ever owned (Cliff Steward's "Aba Daba Honeymoon") and realized soon after that "there's a whole world of music that you don't hear anymore, and it's on 78 RPM records."

Even with the MP3s, Bolling's site only received 10-30 hits per day until appearing on reddit and StumbleUpon in July, reaching over 11,000 hits at its peak. "I really didn't know there were so many people in the world interested in this music," said Bolling told wired.com. "A lot of younger people go to the site, and it's amazing that they hear songs today that originally were recorded 75 years ago. It's pretty cool that people get to listen to this stuff. As far as copyrights, apparently I'm okay, because nobody's come to shut me down or anything.

Good lad. There are undoubtedly some real gems out there that have not been found yet. The likes of Dj Shadow are pro's at digging in the dust covered crates, the more people who start to transfer long lost music to an digital format; the better.

Soulwax: Part of the W-end Never Dies..

Soulwax have got thier new DVD out. It's avaialble for Pre-Order, and by the sounds of the tunes on Myspace is worth a try. Lots of endless plugs today for merch and stuff but i'm the consumer frame of mind.

Soulwax filmed 120 shows with one camera in Europe, Japan, US, Latin America and Australia and the film includes footage of 2manydj's, Soulwax Nite Versions, James Murphy, Nancy Whang, Erol Alkan, Tiga, Justice, Busy P, So-Me, Peaches, Kitsuné, Klaxons and many more with interviews and LOTS of music.

//I Like... The Link below is shit hot, be careful, A taster of the DVD

http://www.soulwax.com/potwnd/loop/

Stones Throw - MadVillain

Some cool Madvillain packages release via the infamous Stones Throw Recordings. This album will only be available through their website. You know, cut out the middleman, fuck the establishment.... That type of vibe.

So here they are, saying: “We’ve got something special. And we’re going to sell it to you in a big ass box full of cool ass shit that you won’t be able to get anywhere else.”
Stones Throw are only manufacturing based on pre-orders. If you order it, you’re guaranteed to get one. If you decide to wait, well, you might not.

If they don’t ship on September 15th, Peanut Butter Wolf will DJ at your house for you!!! Any day except

Check it out. If your a Madvillain fan, this is a must.

Atmosphere - Paint it

Atmosphere latest release is what i'm listening too at the moment. check it out. Was released a a few months ago, but been late on this one. A mix from his previous stuff, some crazy electro / synth sounds, mixed with the unique verbal assault of the Slug. Worth a listen, check out his myspace for good preview. ' Glasshouse' has some awesome beat samples.

http://www.myspace.com/atmosphere

Found one of the latest singles ' You' on tube; so linked this in below:


src="http://www.rhymesayers.com/promo/banners/468x60staticdirty.gif" border="0">

Field Day Festival

The time is approaching of yet another summer festival, especially now that summer appears to have landed. Field Day is going to be going down in Victoria Park, E9. Tug of war, bands, food, booze, fun all to be had. Bands on the bandstand are:

Simian Mobile Disco
Mystery Jets
Les Savy Fav
Filthy Dukes
Foals
Rob Da Bank


Get Tickets.

Olympics Trailer: Helwett and Albarn

Worth a post. the BBC have shown some balls and gone for the Gorrillaz combo of Damien Albarn, and the graphical genius in the shape of Jamie Hewlett. Makes change for the standard cheesy trailer's normally used for such events.

this partnership of Hewlett and Albarn is producing amazing things, Theatre, Music, Art, olympic trailers....whats next? .... Thoughts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr5ZWYRaAyw

McDonalds, Good Work

Quick post. McDonalds had some work entered into Cannes this year. Came across this shot. I like it. I still get there waft of grease though, just looking at the packaging. Solution = Scratch  Sniff ? 

QR me up.

A lot has been said about QR codes, an utilising  them as functional form of campaign measurability / accountability / engagement. Do they work?, Is the infrastructure there within companies to utilise this method of interaction ? In my opinion, at the moment it probably isn't. AS with most things in the mobile market, its about initiating audience participation to being this new mobile experience, which it is for the majority of the public. There are various hurdles that must be overcome, the most obvious one is 'Access'. I won't dwell on this, as this was not the reason for the post. 

http://www.crackunit.com/2008/02/21/facebook-add-to-friends-qr-code/

I have stolen this particular reference form Iain Tait's blog, but deem it worth a 'copy'. It's fascinating that people are beginning to participate and interact with such a mechanism. This QR velcro patch is a barcode to an individual; one is turning oneself into a product. Check it. Your for $19.99

http://p8tch.com/

Mars withdraws ad?

What the F*=/ is society coming to. This really gets on my breasts, Snickers have been forced to withdraw the new ' Mr-T' series of ads because it is supposedly offensive to the gay community. 

Because MR-T says " Run like a real man" , to a slightly camp jogger in the scene, it has attracted condemnation from Human Rights Activists Foundation, and thus the spot has been pulled. 

Quote: "HRC workplace director Daryl Herrschaft said the ad perpetuated the notion that the gay community was "a group of second class citizens and that violence against gay people is not only acceptable, but humorous"

Anything surrounding homophobia will always attract a variety of opinions, but i find this quite astonishing that an Ad that has such a humorous tone of voice, can be condemned for such a thing. MR- T drives a f**%ing tank, with huge great gun on the back. Surely this is more offensive?! 

Excuse the pun, but people need to ' Get some Nuts' ! 

Nuclear Bomb Gallery

Came across an article on Wired earlier today. Quite a startling article, with a selected few photos representing Nuclear bombs circa 1945/46. Some of the photos are quite magnificent; " glorified destruction ", if you like. 

Stark contrast to these visually stunning shots, is the effect to human kind symbolized by a single photo of a 114 year-old Japanese nuclear bomb survivor.