Web Curios

The pretence that this blog is a weekly thing really has to stop. One month since the last one, fact fans. I’ve had THINGS TO DO. Not least going to Brussels and Croatia, where I went on holiday and did NOTHING other than read and swim and be horizontal. It was awesome, and as a result I now look less like this and more like this. No really, I do.

BUT that was then and this is now; I have returned to a world in which the internet spends all its time railing against the evil of corporations and then…er…goes incontinent with grief over the passing of the head of one of the world’s largest corporations; in which Silvio manages to somehow become even more ridiculous and offensive;  and a world in which somehow one of the members of 1980s pop combo Hue & Cry has become a consultant on games, play and ludic theory. We live in interesting times. Here are some totally insignificant bits of online ephemera to help distract you from what appears to be the total meltdown of civilisation which is going on all around us. Christ, I sound like an old man.

Socially responsible graffiti on a Croatian beach hut

Stuff Vaguely Connected To My Job:

• Facebook Things: Keeping pace with Facebook’s changes is, at the moment, tricky – they’re changing stuff every 5 minutes. This week alone they’ve announced an automatic translation service for Pages, premium ads, new ‘Insights’ metrics for page admins…as well as the much-discussed new ‘Timeline’ view which is currently being held up by legal wrangles (BAD FACEBOOK). I could write a whole load about all this stuff but frankly it’s not that interesting, everything I write would be conjecture (“Brands might be able to take advantage in x, y, and z manner! But they might not! Look at my valuable insight and MARVEL!”) and anyway other people have already written up thoughts. Like this scamp.
• Play, Games & Brands: As alluded to above, I MET ONE OF HUE & CRY THIS WEEK!!!! I know that only about 4 of you will be old enough to know how IMMENSELY SIGNIFICANT that is, but nonetheless. Anyway, so Pat Kane gave a very interesting talk on brands (mis)using the mechanics of play to sell / engage consumers. It’s worth checking out the presentation above and thinking about how you/your clients (mis)understand why people play (ergo why they engage – or don’t). Oh, and while I’m on the subject this is a brilliant (and typically long) piece of writing by Tim Rogers on the monetization and marketing of games, and how game mechanics lock us in with psychology – very clever indeed.
• What I Do For A Living: This presentation, by the occasionally funny people at TwankersUK is both accurate and depressing in equal measure. Recognise yourself in it? Be ashamed (God knows I am).
• Google KNOWS: This is an excellent piece from this week’s London Review of Books, which whilst ostensibly is a look at three recent texts on the search giant is in fact a very good overview of the information Google has, how it uses it, and how that usage is what works to refine the service. It’s informative, I very much recommend it. As an adjunct, this GigaOM post about how Google+ will eventually become a connecting node through which all your personal data is aggregated is also worth a read. IT ALL TIES TOGETHER, DO YOU SEE???

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (piece by Choi Zooang)

Stuff Connected With My Job That Even People Who Don’t Do AdverMarketPublicRelationsing Might Find Cool / Interesting:

• Steve Jobs: Not much to add to this, aside from saying that it’s always sad when someone dies and that this interview with him from Playboy in 1985 is fascinating stuff. Oh, and that one of the most fascinating things about Jobs was his breadth of interest; he studied calligraphy, he did acid, and his ethos was informed by all of the experiences he had (of course; God, that was a trite sentence). I think the point I’m trying to make is that being a polymath, and being fascinated by multiple things, is one of the key tenets of creativity and something without which you – and your ideas – will be sterile. Novelist, satirist, polemicist and journalist (and famous former skag-monkey) Will Self is quoted in this interview that he is ‘only interested in being interested’. Everyone should aspire to that, I reckon. But then again what do I know? (rhetorical).
• Zeebox Might Be Massive: I was made aware of this by Matthew Carrozo on Twitter. Details are so far sketchy, but judging by the more detailed description you can find in this article, and judging by its inventor’s pedigree (Anthony Rose did, after all, build iPlayer for the BBC) this could be the first breakthrough ’social TV’ solution. One to watch (pun absolutely not intended).
• Hypertext Fiction (and why it never caught on): Fascinating piece on hypertext fiction (that is, fiction which you can navigate hypertextually – clicking on links within the text to bounce around the narrative – you can see a very good example here, and please do check it out as it’s BRILLIANT). Anyway, the article’s conclusion is effectively that the lack of progress in the medium is a problem of execution rather than one of it being conceptually flawed; I think the right brand could have some real success with a well-executed hypertext project, personally. Penguin, if you’re reading this then come and talk to me.
• A Few Nice Videos of Decent PRy Stuff: First, have this on-site experiential project from crisp brand Lay’s, which will happening in South America soon; next, have this awesome use of post-it notes in another South American campaign, this time for a Sao Paolo Gallery (I think; my Portuguese is a bit rubbish); and finally, a very cool use of projection mapping by…er…literally no idea at all who’s behind this, but check it out - it’s the world’s largest game of Space Invaders.
• TinType Studio in San Francisco: A pop-up drop-in portrait studio in SF. No idea if this is a brand ‘thing’ (I hope not); watch this sort of thing get ripped off by someone very soon offering to create a professionally shot new profile picture for FB, for example. You can have that for free, Canon (or anyone else, frankly).

This is oddly cheering on an October morning (artwork by Ich Bin Kong)

Other Stuff Which Has No Relevance To My Job At All, But Which I Nonetheless Found Stimulating In Some Way:

• We Are The 99%: So following on from the Occupy Wall Street reference at the top of this, this is a blog collecting testimonies by people affected by the economic downturn – the 99% as opposed to the wealthiest 1%. A lot of really interesting, poignant pictures and stories, and a human face to what is an increasingly abstracted issue (it’s hard to think of real people when Gideon’s chatting about Quantitative Easing).
• Animal Costumes: I’m going to be very disappointed if at least one of you isn’t wearing one of these in a month’s time.
• Wedding Ring Coffins: For anyone going through a divorce.
• Balloon Hats, Worldwide: This bloke has, for reasons known only to himself, chosen to go around the world photographing people in balloon hats. Were I not already doing my dream job, that would come a close second.
• Self Portrait Postcards: An art project collating every status update written by artist Rishi Dastidar on Facebook over three years, creating a picture of who he’s been and what he’s done, in real-time. It’s on til 14th October in London – take a look.
• A Collection Of Obsessive Photo Projects: A collection of links to some of the internet’s ‘best’ slightly odd photographic projects, including this one (which I’d never heard of) from WAAAAAAAAAY back in 1999 in which a slightly overweight, creepy-looking bloke documents his attempts to shower with 100 different women in a year. No, really.
• A Guide To What Happens At Puberty: …in the style of Dr Seuss. I think this is awesome, but you may be left with the feeling that your childhood’s been somewhat compromised; your mileage, as ever, may vary.
• 50 For 50: So my mate Dan’s running this, but it’s still a cute idea. Design what you would like the new £50 to look like; the best entry wins one of said new £50 notes. There may even be an exhibition of the entries. Something to do this afternoon, should you be workshy (heaven forfend).
• Photography from INSIDE THE MOUTH: Oh yes.
• Azealia Banks – 212: I wanted to put this in the videos, but it’s been dragged down from YouTube for some reason. No matter – have the mp3 instead. This is a brilliant song, but lyrically a little bit filthy. Will look out for more from her, though.

I do, you know.

Right, videos. ENJOY:

1) Sugru. It’s like blu-tac crossed with superglue. I want to see pranks using this, please:

2) The internet loves ninjas (and it all started here, nostalgia-fans); I don’t, particularly, but I do like a nice bit of stop-motion animation and this is done very well indeed:

3) Zola Jesus is a tiny woman with a massive voice. This is her new single, from her recently released second album, called ‘Vessel’. It’s gothy, in the best possible way – take a listen:

4) So every week on The Simpsons there is, famously, a different version of the ‘couch gag‘. This week’s was drawn and animated by John K, the famously leftfield brain behind Ren & Stimpy, amongst other things. This was the result:

5) This one’s quite hard to describe, really – you sort of just have to watch it. A medley of all the bits in songs that have words that aren’t really words in them:

6) You may have heard of Alexander Ebert; I hadn’t. Either way, this video for his song ‘Truth’ is rather good, and features enough Jesus-imagery to keep me happy for days:

7) This really, really scared me, hence why I’m sharing it with you:

Constraints on profanity prevent me from namechecking this hiphop supergroup; just have a listen, it’s good stuff (if sweary):

9) I’m really not sure if I can put this here, but why not. You may remember Rubberbandits from their smash Christmas novelty single ‘Horse Outside’ (do watch it, it’s AWESOME, and you will be singing it all afternoon) – this is their new one. Enjoy (and no offence intended to anyone):