Then RSA dediced to have Cognitive Media scribe this talk. Cognitive Media is a UK-based studio that draws illustrations of talks, which they call “scribing.” They remind me of Common Craft, the US-based studio behind the Explanations in Plain English videos, though I find the beautiful illustrations of Cognitive Media to be absolutely mesmorizing.
What an awesome idea, this scribing thing. It’s a delightfully visual way of enhancing an already wonderful lecture.
Check out what they’ve done to The Secret Powers of Time. Great talk, great scribing.
I gotta give props to Toyota (TM). This is one hilarious commercial. Almost makes me want to buy a Sienna minivan myself. Almost.
Created by the international production agency Caviar Content (in conjunction with Saatchi & Saatchi) and with music by the studio Black Iris, Toyota seems to be going after a new demographic. It hits the mark with some, but not so much with others.
Me, I think director Jody Hill and actors Rachel Drummond & Brian Huskey (as Mom & Dad) did a hilarious job. After a friend shared this with me on Facebook, I spent the better part of my morning watching the other Sienna ads on YouTube. They’re not as clever as the Swagger Wagon, and feel a lot more like typical – tho funny – commercials. But the Swagger Wagon seems to be the first aimed at this new audience.
Facebook makes an appearance on South Park. As does Tron, Mad Money, and Chatroulette, amongst others. Hilarity ensues. Full episode is currently available as of this post, but may be taken down in a few days, so here are some clips just in case.
Surprise!
I Made A Friend Today!!
So I’m Not One Of Them?
Relationship Status
Mad Friends
No Friends
Thumbs Up
Poke Your Grandma
Looking For Quality Friends
Let The Game Commence
Powerful Profiles
Profile Stan Marsh
Ending a Friendship
User vs. Profile
I’ve Got Nobody!
Wow, after all these clips, who needs the full episode, huh?
You know those “I’m a PC” Microsoft Windows 7 (MSFT) TV ads with the cute Asian kid? The ones that make you want a cute Asian kid more than Windows 7? (Zing! haha)
This is an oldie but a goodie. The Website is Down is a set of hilarious indie videos showing the phone conversations between the main protagonist “Web Dude” Derrick and his arch nemesis “Sales Guy” Chip. Other characters also make an appearance, such as data center admins, network admins, and other sales people.
The brainchild of Joshua Weinberg, The Website is Down is a parody of what IT support staff experience every day. I did IT support work for a summer internship and can empathize.
A 2009 Webby Award winner in the Viral category, The Website is Down is the brainchild of a tech support geek turned independent filmmaker Joshua Weinberg from Denver, CO.
The inspiration for The Website is Down came to Weinberg while he was still in college. As he tells the Rumpus:
For a long time I had an idea about making a movie that took place on the screen of someone working at a computer. I thought it would be cool to see that, watching the story only through the actions onscreen. Originally, I had this idea when I was in school getting my computer science degree. At the time the it was not going to be a comedy, but a mystery where you would watch someone uncovering a secret, like detecting a hacker or whatever. It was going to be all text, all Unix commands, but only ultra-geeky people would know what the fuck it was about.
…That didn’t happen. Really, it’s been more fun doing it as a comedy; obviously more people can appreciate it that way. I had the idea for [The Website is Down] in my head for a very long time and finally the pieces just fell into place. I’ve been making a lot of movies with Casey [Cochran], who also works in tech support, so he completely understood the characters and scenario. He plays Chip Moorhead, the Sales Guy.
According to Robert Scoble, to get this app, follow these steps:
Download the latest version of the Yelp iPhone app.
Enter the app.
Shake it several times. Although Scoble says to shake it 3 times, I had to shake mine like 10 times.
A message will appear saying Monocle was activated. Touch the OK button.
Touch the Monocle button at the top right corner of the screen.
And that’s it. If you hold the phone vertical and point the iPhone around the room, you’ll see the camera working. An overlap of Yelp reviews will appear in the direction of that particular business. If you need more help, Mashable also has step-by-step instructions, along with screenshots and this video:
It’s a pretty neat feature. Major props to the Yelp team for pulling this off. They earn loads of geek cred for this.
If I lived in New York City, I could see this being somewhat useful. The compass-based directional map on the Google (GOOG) Maps iPhone app is more useful though. The prime benefit of Monocle is letting me know which direction a restaurant is located. Google Maps does that too, plus it includes zooming in and out. Sadly, the Google Map on Yelp doesn’t have the directional feature. Maybe Yelp should add that as their next feature.
Another nice benefit of Monocle is letting me know which restaurants are near me. That’s pretty nice, if I want any ole’ restaurant. But generally, I use Yelp to find me a good, high-quality restaurant. Being a little bit further away is fine because I’m looking for good food. I’m not sure what Monocle’s distance limit is, but what if a great place is just ten steps to my left? Would I miss out on it because I wasn’t standing close enough for Monocle to display it?
To be fair, the same could be said about Google Maps if, say, a great restaurant was just off the left edge of the screen. But it’s easier to scroll the screen to the left than it is to know to walk ten steps in some direction.
But enough criticism. Geek-cred-wise, this is pretty cool. Lots of people are talking about it too, which is even more cool. Awesome demonstration of AR technology, guys. I’m looking forward to other AR applications soon.
