Thoughts on business, startups, and technology.
Now for some Friday fun.
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)
Her name is Kylie Kim and she’s been getting some attention, like from Sony VAIO and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
So you know what that means. Time for a parody!
Via: 8Asians.com
Now for some Friday fun.
This could be a good ad for that car manufacturer (whatever car that is). Safety first!
Via: Failblog
Now for some Friday fun.
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.
Total PEBAK. Go watch the rest of their episodes before their website goes down.
Now for some Friday fun.
Kyle Webster, an illustrator from North Carolina, put together this wacky video. Funny stuff! A pretty good job of self promotion through social media marketing too.
Not a bad idea if you’re trying to make a name for yourself. Charles Lewis also did it through the Poetic Prophet viral video he made.
And now, the lyrics to “Original Design Gangsta” (though admittedly, the lyrics are all in the video already…)
Yeah.
What up, Winston?
Yeah.
Press check!
Keep those guides locked.
Coming to you from the South
with the mutha-kernin’ skills
take a look inside my mouth
I even letterpressed my grill
Paula Scher on speed dial
Sagmeister’s my man
I got Mok on lock
Done time with Paul Rand
Wearing black on black
Designer rims ’round my eyes
Yo my clients call me ‘Snoop’
‘Cuz my concepts is so high
Don’t use PhotoShop filters
Lens flare is for prankstas
Holla back at K-dubs
Number One Design Gangsta
What? What?
Got the key commands down
And my fingers is my tools
Never use command ‘Z’
‘Cuz I don’t make mistakes fool
My mechanicals is fresh
I’ll mock ’em up in your face
And you know my work is clean
‘Cuz I’m using white space
AIGA,
Print, How and Graphis
I’m the best in the show
When I enter my piece
I pass on swipe
‘Cuz whack stock is fa’ prankstas
O.D.G.
Original Design Gangsta
O.D.G.
You know my rulers are long
And my type is strong
Spinning hot concepts
‘Til the break of dawn
Just my M-A-C and me
I’m so Design Gangsta
Yeah. Yeah.
PMS 187 runs deep in my veins
Metallic 8643 in my gold chains
I’m a classic font hustla’
Pimpin’ Mrs. Eaves
Trade Gothic, got Futura up my sleeve
Surfstation
K10k in my faves
Playas at Newstoday
Always giving me raves
I’m a FreeHand man
Not an InDesign pranksta
Multi-page layout
Is for true Design Gangstas
Yeah yeah…
Multi-paaaaage
And my messenger bag hangs low
And my Cooper’s riding high on 24s
On the weekend I be spending mad dough
At the North Cackalack Apple Sto’
Got the RAM for the ladies
In my G5 tower
When it comes to logos
Homies call me ‘Jack Bauer’
‘Cuz I kill ’em
With one click of the mouse
K-dubs,
No. 1 Design Gangsta in the house
One Two
Yeah
Press check it
You know my rulers are long
And my type is strong
Spinning hot concepts
‘Til the break of dawn
Just my M-A-C and me
I’m so Design Gangsta
Yeah
CMYK
Turn those guides on son
No widows, you heard?
Now for some Friday fun.
Guess how quickly you can design a website? Two minutes! No kidding! Watch:
No, just kidding. This video was created by the design firm Wevio as what I’m guessing is a clever piece of social media marketing. On the video’s YouTube page Wevio says that:
This is a time-lapse video of what was originally about 2 hours.
This video doesn’t portray how a website is really made. It takes hours upon hours of researching, designing, developing and testing in different browsers as well as platforms.
Too true. And too bad, ‘cuz having a professionally made web design in two minutes would be awesome.
Now for some Friday fun.
Time for some exercise! The holidays are over. And so are the marathon feasts of turkey, leftover turkey, cornbread, eggnog, candy canes, gingerbread cookies, and all manner of tasty treats.
Oh, but you have no time for exercise? Stuck in your cube at work all day? Well, your prayers are answered! And you can thank Dr. James Levine for it.
According to Mandy Katz’s article in the NY Times, “I Put In 5 Miles at the Office“, Levin “led a study showing that lean people burn about 350 more calories a day than those who are overweight, by doing ordinary things like fidgeting, pacing or walking to the copier.” Inspired by this finding, he constructed a treadmill desk by sliding a bedside hospital tray over a treadmill. So claims the article:
Without breaking a sweat, the so-called work-walker can burn an estimated 100 to 130 calories an hour at speeds slower than two miles an hour, Mayo research shows.
…
After leaving the military two years ago, Kirk Hurley, 40, a customer service representative at Mutual of Omaha, gained 75 pounds. In two months of work-walking two hours a day, he has lost 16 pounds.
“You don’t really feel the physical strain on your body because your mind’s occupied with your work,” he said.
Quite a feat, huh? Levine even worked with Steelcase to manufacture this as a consumer product, called the Walkstation. It’s not cheap, however. As of this entry, it’s going for a hefty $4,999.00. Yikes. I think I’d rather use a bedside hospital tray and a regular treadmill.
Even though Levine wasn’t the first one with this idea – Seth Roberts, an emeritus professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, created a treadmill desk in 1996 – his research popularized this fitness technique quite a bit. It has even inspired a blog and social network. Another blogger & office walker (as they’re known) decided to build his own treadmill desk from scratch.
Pretty wild stuff. It’s certainly not for everyone, though. A director of ergonomics noted that “if you can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, this may not be the workstation for you.”
Can you just imagine the chaos and hilarity that would ensue from uncoordinated coworkers colliding into cubicle walls? Come to think of it, that would be pretty awesome to see. I can think of a few uncoordinated coworkers I’d like to see on a treadmill desk. Hehe.
Now for some Friday fun. Let’s geek out today.
Now for some Friday fun.
This is cool. Very cool. Especially if you’re a user of Adobe (ADBE) Photoshop.
Trend Hunter features a cool slideshow displaying how the Indonesia office of the design agency Bates141 built this amazing replication of the Adobe Photoshop UI using boxes, paint brushes, and other stuff. Another set of work-in-progress photos are on Flickr too. Check it out – it’s a huge replication.
This was done as a print poster for the Indonesian software distributor Software Asli. I had no idea software distributors went to such great lengths to create ads. According to the info on another Flickr photo, the team who built this was creative director Hendra Lesmono, art directors Andreas Junus & Irawandhani Kamarga, copywriter Darrick Subrata, and photographer Anton Ismael. I’ve never heard of any of you, but great job guys!
There’s even a hi-res version of this photo that you can use for desktop wallpaper. Nice!