21.01.2010 by Zoltan

Make your own Cameron poster

Very funny little Cameron mash-up from Andy Barefoot that allows you to make your own campaign poster for the upcoming UK general election. I especially like the fact that you have full control over the logo – some much needed respite for Cameron’s unashamed re-hashing of Obama’s ‘hope’ message which I simply can’t stand!

Whether you love or loathe the Tories, this provides endless fun.

via @mattyboomboom

21.01.2010 by Zoltan

the UK open the doors to public data (finally)

Following both the USA and London, the UK government has just released data.gov.uk – a whole tranche of public data free to all, and importantly including commercial applications. A great move in the right direction! Can’t wait to see the output generated from this…

Get your mash-up on now

18.01.2010 by Zoltan

You can’t script this shit

or can you… i would love to know if this is pure unadulterated fan-art or if it’s got something to do with the reported USD$200 million marketing budget of what was a predictable rip-off of pocahontas, even if it was set in space (which automatically makes it awesome)? Any thoughts?

via @benshaw

16.01.2010 by Zoltan

Laptop Friendly Cafes goes all-iPhone on us

Back in June we blogged about a (then-new) service called Laptop Friendly Cafes, which basically wants to formalise what the global creative nomads amongst us already know – that offices are soooooooooooo 20th Century.

Well, they’ve just released an iPhone app which has saved me on more than one occasion during the past few weeks as i was waiting for broadband to be re-connected after moving. Using the inbuilt GPS, the app finds your location and within moment is pointing you towards the nearest free wifi via google maps.

With an ever-expanding database of cities such as New York, London, Melbourne and Sydney, its USD$0.99 well spent IMHO.

The only drawback is the lack of the ‘add new cafe’ functionality. It seems a no brainer that the fastest way to build this database is through on-the-spot UGC, sitting in a cafe and feeling inspired rather than having to go online and do it via the website. But i’m sure its coming soon…

Get your local free wifi on with Laptop Friendly Cafes.

15.07.2009 by Zoltan

The Power of the YouTube aka United Breaks Guitars

I don’t normally go in for country music, but this is something else.

Dave Carroll got screwed by United Airlines, they refused to take responsibility for breaking his guitar. After 12 months of useless phone calls appealing to the corporate beasties, he decided instead to write a song and post it on the youtube.

Nearly 3,000,000 views later and after coverage on CNN et. al., United decided to play ball. To Dave’s credit he told them to fuck off, because by now he was having fun and they were hurting badly.

Major PR hassle (read: expense) and serious customer fallout over a $3,500 dollar guitar. Go figure. Another case of big brands with zero understanding that the balance of power has shifted away from them and firmly into the hands of their (creative) customers.

03.06.2009 by Zoltan

Laptop Friendly Cafes

Craig Barber has just launched a new service titled Laptop Friendly Cafes, which is quite simply “a website that lists great local spots to set up shop with your laptop”.

A good idea for sure, kinda like SF-Bay culture for the rest of the planet :)

I am however a little underwhelmed by the content. Not the list of cafes themselves, but what is (not) said about them. As they stand, the reviews are very functional.

But if I am going to use this site repeatedly, I want to know things about the cafe:
- What is the coffee like?
- Whether or not I can sit all day like a major tight-arse on 1 one coffee?
- Or if they have a 1-drink-an-hour policy?
- What’s the music like?
- Are the staff surly and aggressive or tree-hugging hippies?

IMHO this is the type of content that will make the site a success and make me want to come back again and again.

07.09.2008 by Zoltan

Out intellectual-ise your mates with bkkeeper

I’m not really a big twitterer yet (but I think my new iPhone will change that), but I just came across this ingenious bolt-on idea called bkkeeper, which turns your twitter into a broadcast of your book reading habits.

But apart from sharing the titles you’re currently reading, they’ve also built a system which allows you to digitally dog-ear / bookmark pages. Its a great way of sharing with people in real-time what was previously only a solo experience.

Apart from the fact that I haven’t figured out how to get an account there yet (am I just completely stupid/blind?), the only thing that could improve this would be some webcam integration to read the ISBN number for you – you know, like Delicious Library.

04.07.2008 by Zoltan

Absolut Colours

Absolut has done more than its fair share of amazing online campaigns. And seemingly it cannot, or at least has not, put a foot wrong. Which is why this newest site Absolut Colours surprises me a little bit…

Gay pride is a good thing don’t get me wrong. Hell, most pride is a good thing, if it’s not without reason. But I struggle to see many people jumping on this UGC bandwagon, and the fact that its empty seems to prove me correct.

via the venerable adverblog (really, how does she keep down a full-time job?)

17.06.2008 by Zoltan

Interactive YouTube

Something big is happening on YouTube. Something which is fundamentally going to change the way you and I use it. They may not look like much, but the newly added annotations allow you to embellish videos and even make them interactive.

Imagine the possibilities. Truly interactive narratives. User-defined endings. And even games (the example after the jump). Unfortunately the embed function doesn’t work, so you’ll have to jump over to check it out.

via Digital Examples

31.01.2008 by Zoltan

Obey Obama

Yesterday Obey released his endorsement poster for Obama (left). Which is great, as I love Obey’s style and I certainly hope that Obama wins – because he might actually change the rotten institutions of American politics rather than just keep the status quo.

But then today, quick as lightning, someone has gone one step further and created a text-generator using the very same image (my version, right). You can only guess at what’s going to happen when the Clinton’s get their hands on this, but at the end of the day it will be Obama’s campaign that wins, because no matter what anyone writes underneath, it’ll still be his face that everyone sees first and associates with Obey’s original messages of “Hope” and “Progress”.

And while we’re on the subject YouBama has just launched which is essentially a user-gen video endorsement site for the main man. So get upping and add to the groundswell of opinion for a (radical) change in USA Inc.

obey obama – via CR yesterday
obey generator – via yacco today
youbama – via ad lab

16.08.2007 by Zoltan

Facebook mapped RL

Interesting article on the BBC about a new Facebook app called Cityware that “tracks encounters in the real world via Bluetooth” in order to help you “find out more information about ‘familiar strangers’”. The stated ambition of the project is to “have mobile phones alert each other when in the proximity of another Facebook user who shares common interests or common friends”. hmmmmmm, bears more than just passing resemblance to this quote don’t you think? :-p

27.07.2007 by Zoltan

Gmail copies Nike football

I’m not entirely sure how Google – with the seemingly limitless amount of resources at its disposal – can so blatantly and shamelessly copy someone else’s (brilliant) idea? The only interesting thing is how hilariously nerdy the google office looks! Almost exactly like the even more famous one Slough!

via llamamé lola

26.07.2007 by Zoltan

5 seconds

5 Segons (5 Seconds in english) is a really lovely little idea that takes a ubiquitous cultural object (in this case the youtube scrubber) and through the sheer simplicity of the idea, repurposes it to become something entirely different. The ambient sound and lack of any voiceover only reinforces the message of it not being a big deal.

via adverblog

26.07.2007 by Zoltan

Virgin Mobile vs the Flickr community

Virgin Mobile Australia has launched a new campaign around the strap “Are you with us or what?” which uses a Flickr feed to populate the site – overlaid with an insightful question to which you’re encouraged to respond. But because they are using a certain CC license, they didn’t (and rightly so) ask permission and now there’s a lively debate raging.

Personally, the fact that every image carries a link to the author’s Flickr account, is enough for me… Getting your stuff in front of as many eyeballs as possible has to be a good thing – even if a massive corporate can be seen to be profiting off you for nothing… Welcome the CC future ;)

via advertising lab

26.06.2007 by Zoltan

Social networking sites and class divides (USA)

An interesting article on the BBC today about the real-world class divides being replicated on online social networking sites. Essentially wealthier, better educated people are on facebook, and everyone else is on myspace. Get the whole report here.