We’re an inventive agency obsessed with turning complex information into simple, creative communication. Obsessed.
Yesterday, millions and millions of devotees sat glued to their screens, waiting for breathlessly for the latest life-altering word from their leader.
Also airing: The State of the Union Address.
In a sad state of affairs, it seems that there was more buzz about Apple’s latest release than the President’s. How can healthcare compete with a 10 inch screen and a wireless milk frother? (The latter is still in beta.)
According to our friends at Google, it can’t….
All eyes in the tech world will be on Apple later today as it holds a press conference in San Francisco to unveil the iPad Reader. Tech forums and blogs are speculating on whether the device will be a keyboard-less tablet. The smart bet seems to be on the latest offerings from Apple being a some sort of “slate-like computer which traditionally bridges the gap between smartphones and laptops”.
Despite years of rumours, Apple have been able to keep a tight lid on exactly what the mythical piece of hardware actually is. A giant iPhone? A rival to the e-reader? A new gaming device? Having hypothesised what it might actually be, debates have been stirring as to whether it the iPad will crack open a new market or will be a (successful?) rival in an existing market. We have but hours to wait and find out what it is and just an hour before we can judge whether it is worth the critical and social-networking hype.
Keep watching Apple’s space…
I have a confession to make… I like learning. I’d much rather watch a documentary on some ancient society I’ve never heard of than watch any of the useless reality TV drivel that pollutes our screens these days. That isn’t to say that TV is all rubbish. Shows like QI and University Challenge are brilliant ways to learn interesting pieces of trivia but you’re never in control of what you’re learning. For tailored intellectual stimulation I recommend one of the most amazing online resources I’ve ever come across… TED.com. Continue reading ‘Like school…but better’
Mature Martha, Fridgid Farrah, S & M Susan. They all have a way. Fridgid Farrah is apparently shy, Martha likes to mother and you can guess what S & M Susan does. No, they’re not the latest additions to the Barbie collection, yes they are the new Robot Girlfriends. But as the title of this post suggests, they’re not the most house chore friendly of girlfriends…but they are bedroom friendly, as said by Douglas Hines, the inventor of ‘can’t get a girlfriend or talk to a woman so I’ll make my own’.
The dolls can carry out simple conversations and are designed to get to know their owner (kind of like a pet dog if they could talk- can you sense my tone?)
These ‘ladies’ will set you back to about £6,000. Now you have to be a very successful nerd who can’t get a real woman to be able to afford one of these. Should my next post be about how technology is depreciating basic life skills?
p.s. if you’re wondering how I came to know of the grand unveiling of such products, these are just some of the kinds of things I get ‘i-chatted’ at work (you know who you are).
Just under 100 years ago Max Fleischer invented the animation technique of rotoscoping. Animators would trace over live-action film projected onto a frosted glass plate, frame by frame. (see image above) The effect did not give the realism that you might think, when the drawings were put in sequence the line would shake unnaturally and avoiding this would take a great deal of skill in the person performing the tracing. Because of this problem the use of rotoscoping for the production of ‘Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs’ was dropped and traditional cell animation was put in place. The only good examples of rotoscoping I think is when it is used stylistically like in the music video for ‘Take on Me’ by ‘Aha’ and the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ sequence in ‘Yellow Submarine’. Continue reading ‘Windows Technology’
I recently went to an exhibition called “If You Could Collaborate”, in east London, at the Rochelle School, A foundation Gallery, which will be on until showing the 23rd January. Continue reading ‘If You Could Collaborate, until the 23rd January.’
Yesterday iPhone announced that they’ll be bringing out the Parrot AR.Drone. This is a quadricopter controlled by the iPhone through wifi, and the copter contains a tiny camera so that you can see where you’re flying and engage in augmented reality wars with a second player, by yourself or against a robot. Continue reading ‘Will the next big thing be an acc, not an app?’
You didn’t misread the headline… I’m deadly serious, after 23 years of spending millions on Super Bowl advertising Pepsi has decided to opt out this year in favour of putting their money into a social media project they’re calling, The Pepsi Refresh Project. Continue reading ‘Pepsi Ditches the Super Bowl…’
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